![]() ![]() And it has brought keen attention to indoor air quality. On the plus side, the virus that has dominated life since early 2020 has caused many people to stay inside. Smoke-damaged lungs are more susceptible to COVID-19. And it can compound an existing crisis, such as a pandemic. Harm from smoke can linger long after the air quality index resets to the green “good” zone. Last September, smoke from California and Oregon, Canada and Eastern Washington converged here. There are rarely big fires in the wet forests near Puget Sound, but the region sits at atmospheric crossroads. A study of 18 Western cities made special note of the increase in the Pacific Northwest. That’s up from 10% from a decade ago, with half of the pollution in the parts of the West. ![]() Recent wildfires accounted for a quarter of PM2.5 in the air nationwide, according to Stanford University estimates. The people it hurt most lived in cities, along highways, near farms. In the past, vehicle emissions and dust accounted for most particulate pollution. Based on studies done elsewhere and on how much smoke was present here, lead researcher Yisi Liu estimated that roughly 92 additional deaths occurred in Washington during the 13-day event. A later UW study looked specifically at the potential impact of the September 2020 smoke. She was also surprised to find that people aged 45 to 64 years face a higher risk of dying from respiratory conditions on the day they’re exposed to smoke.ĭoubleday’s research examined Washington wildfire seasons from 2006 to 2017 and found death rates increased on average by nearly 1.3% during the day after a smoke event. “What we didn’t expect to find was a significantly greater increase in mortality risk on the day following a wildfire smoke event for all populations, regardless of underlying health conditions or whether the air continued to be smoky that day.” “Our research found a slight increase in mortality risk on the same day of exposure to wildfire smoke across all populations,” said lead author Annie Doubleday. A 2019 University of Washington study that calculated the odds of death from forest fire smoke in the state had some surprising results. Those tiny soot particles wedge into lungs and stress hearts. June posts include “10 tips for planning ahead.” The culprit in smoke is toxic particulate pollution known as PM2.5. The best entry point for advice and updates is the state smoke blog,. An intense wildfire season is already underway in drought-stricken expanses of the West, and fire forecast maps for summer are full of angry red. ![]()
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