Wildfire haze causes asthma, heart and other health concerns in Northeast US

Health officials across the northeastern US are warning residents to take precautions after wildfire smoke traveled south from Canada, releasing unhealthy levels of air quality that pose a risk to the sick, elderly and young children.

New York City officials canceled outdoor recess in schools and suggested the most vulnerable wear high-quality masks after a thick fog that blanketed the sky triggered a purple alert, the highest and most dangerous level. The health warning could last at least a day, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference. The leaders of Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington also issued warnings.

Particulate matter and toxins can cause complications in patients with lung conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as in people with cardiovascular disease, and may be more serious for young children and the elderly. Levels are currently high enough that otherwise healthy people and even pets are likely to experience eye irritation and coughing, said Daniel Horton, director of Northwestern University's Climate Change Research Group in Chicago.

“These extreme events have a particularly strong impact on people and human health,” he said in a phone interview. “What we often see in hospitals is an increase in people arriving with respiratory problems or heart problems.”

Annually, air pollution is estimated to be responsible for about 100,000 deaths in the US, according to a 2020 study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Research by the Environmental Protection Agency and others has found that exposure to elevated concentrations of particulate matter—even for a few hours to weeks—can cause heart attacks and death related to cardiovascular disease.

A recent study found that a reduction in air pollution in the US during pandemic-related lockdowns was associated with fewer heart attacks. For every drop of 10 micrograms per cubic meter in tiny, airborne particles called PM2.5, the number of heart attacks fell by 6%, according to the results, which were published in Journal of the American Heart Association last year.

More than 400 fires are burning across Canada, from British Columbia in the west to Nova Scotia in the east, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. But air currents also push the smoke thousands of miles south into the US

A similar haze settled in the Northeast in 2021, when smoke from West Coast wildfires blew across the country. But current air quality is worse, said Peter DeCarlo, associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Smoke traveling from the West Coast “has a little more time to thin out,” DeCarlo said. “Because the fires are so much closer to Quebec and Ontario and the smoke is being pulled straight up the east coast, we're seeing much higher particulate concentrations from those fires.”

The smoky haze is likely to stick around for the rest of the week because of current weather patterns, before being blown out toward the ocean, said Daniel Westervelt, assistant research professor at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.

“I would expect things to start to get a little better as we head into the weekend, but the fires are still burning,” Westervelt said. The change in weather conditions may bring “a little relief, but it's not going to change overnight. It may take a while for all the smoke to clear.”

Fire smoke contains a dangerous mixture of carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Smaller particles raise concerns as they can enter the lungs and even the bloodstream. New York has been recording high levels of PM2.5, the smallest particles, since Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon the PM2.5 index reached over 200, levels rarely seen even in heavily polluted areas like Mexico City. Mexico's capital is a basin surrounded by mountains that trap the smog inside, and in the 1980s the pollution was so bad that residents reported seeing birds falling from the sky.

There may still be room for air quality to worsen today and later this week, said Suresh Dhaniyala, a professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, who monitors air quality. New York's particulate matter levels reached 75 micrograms per cubic meter on Wednesday, five times the World Health Organization's guidelines for 24-hour average levels, according to IQAir.

The health implications are particularly worrisome for children with asthma, said Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, chief of pediatric pulmonology at Columbia University Medical Center. Poor air quality can make asthma worse in the short term, and chronic exposure is linked to smaller lung sizes, he said.

“This puts our children at risk of lung disease well into adulthood,” he said.

Those at risk may want to keep their windows closed and use air filters if available, according to Lovinsky-Desir. For people who don't have the option of staying indoors, KN-95 or N-95 masks reduce inhalation exposure from particulate pollution, he said.

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