Some 13 states on the East Coast have so far issued air quality warnings to millions of their residents, after winds blow smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada toward the United States.
And the National Weather Service advised Americans on the country’s east coast to monitor local air quality before spending time outdoors, as air quality declined in most parts of the Northeast as smoke from wildfires in Canada moved south.
It is estimated that 55 million Americans are breathing polluted air due to smoke from the Canadian fires.
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Researchers fear that small smoke particles known as “PM2.5” will cause respiratory damage to people, because despite their small size, they can cause damage to the respiratory tract.
These particulate matter come from sources such as fossil fuel combustion, dust storms and wildfires, and have been linked to a number of health problems such as asthma, heart disease and other respiratory ailments.
Air quality and visibility can fluctuate due to wildfire smoke over short distances and can vary widely from hour to hour, officials said in a statement.
Some city officials also stressed to their residents that if they smell smoke and see a kind of haze on the horizon, this means that they are exposed to pollution.
