The Santa Ana winds caused a large the fire broke out this month in Ventura County, featuring stunning images of orange sky in Oxnard reminiscent of 2020 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although the Mountain fire now almost contained (like the Sandy fire in Monterey County), it was The most destructive wildfire to hit Southern California in six years, Polluting air moved past Ventura toward Santa Barbara and beyond. With Santa Ana winds and the ever-expanding fire season, smoke can spread again in November and into December in Southern and Northern California, as it did in November. 2017 again 2018.
And it's not just a West Coast problem: The Northeast is facing it worst fire season for more than ten years, encouraging moving to New York at the weekend.
In the affected areas, residents need to immediately protect themselves from inhaling wildfire smoke, which is comparable to its composition. cigarette smoke without nicotine. Harmful smoke particles can be cause or spread heart and lung diseases far away.
Southern Air Quality Control District recommends staying indoors and using air conditioners or air purifiers. This general advice is helpful but does not go far enough. There are five specific steps that can safely limit your exposure to extreme levels of toxic particles during these large fires.
First, be informed. Local air quality monitors, the PurpleAir community scientist network and other online resources can provide a clear picture of particle pollution in your area. Handheld and desktop particle monitors are also available for purchase. You can't rely on the color of the sky, which can be deceiving: In 2020, wildfires turned the San Francisco sky dark orange, but the air quality worsened after the sun returned and the sky looked normal, because by then the smoke particles had descended. close to the ground, in the air that people breathe.
Second, stay indoors and keep your windows and doors closed, just in case reduce exposure to external pollution in proportion part.
However, particles still get in through cracks, and closing windows and doors also traps exhaled air, increasing the risk of spreading respiratory diseases like COVID-19 or the flu. That leads to the third important step: Clean up outdoor dirt that enters the home, as well as potentially harmful respiratory particles.
Central ventilation, even if filtered, often needs to be supplemented with appropriately sized room air cleaners. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention They recommend at least five air changes per hour for indoor spaces, and this month California Department of Public Health he repeated this recommendation to classes.
The number of air purifiers needed to meet this target varies depending on the size of the room, the model of the air purifier and the speed and noise level that the occupants find acceptable from the purifier. High-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, purifiers that operate at five to 10 air changes per hour cost $1 to $5 per square foot of average ceiling height, and indoor particulate exposure can be reduced by 10 50 times compared to the outside, depending on the amount of particles still entering the room when the doors and windows are closed.
If getting cleaners for your whole house is scary, you can focus on making at least one room safe, like your bedroom. Low-cost (about $20) infrared motion switches attached to purifiers can save energy and extend filter life by turning air cleaners on when people enter and turning them off with a time delay after they leave.
HEPA purifiers tend to sell out during wildfire season. A do-it-yourself cleaner can be done on 10 minutes with consistently available parts, a box air conditioner and a MERV 13+ furnace filter for sale online, at a price typically five to 10 times cheaper than HEPA options. Alternatively, even if low-grade filters are the only ones in stock in stores or online, some filtering is better than nothing.
Fourth, in addition to indoor safety, if you need to drive where there is smoke, you can change your car's air system to recirculate. As a long-term fix, on most vehicles you can also upgrade your cabin air filter to a HEPA model.
Finally, whether you are outdoors or indoors without air fresheners, wear a N95, N99 or reusable elastomeric masks like the P100, all designed to reduce particulate matter exposure to wildfire smoke by at least 20 times as long as they are new and fit properly. If these are difficult to wear, especially in hot weather, breathable industrial helmets with battery-powered fans and filters can be used comfortably (although they tend to be expensive, starting at around $450).
As climate change intensifies, wildfires are likely to become more frequent and more severe. Taking these precautions with wildfire smoke as well it protects against airborne threats such as respiratory diseases and pollution in general. Don't wait until the sky is red to take action.
Devabhaktuni Srikrishna is an electrical engineer, founder of the air quality website www.patientknowhow.com and evil control and mitigation chairman of the American Assn. of the annual Aerosol Research conference.
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