If you or someone you love has been exposed to smoke, soot, and poor air quality from the fires in California or elsewhere, there are some simple ways you can help protect your health that I want to share with you. Exposure to toxic air can be a trigger for other underlying health conditions, resulting in a worsening of symptoms or new symptoms appearing for the first time. Below I have included a list of different options and ways you can support your health and the health of your family and loved ones. My prayers and love are with you and everyone who is being affected by the fires or any challenging circumstance.
Masks
A high quality mask can help protect your lungs from soot, debris, pollution, and toxins. The N100 mask is especially effective, but if not available then look for N99 or N95 masks.
Air Filters
A good filter can clean the air, including from smoke, and lower its toxicity significantly.
IQ Air
The IQ Air has HyperHEPA filtration technology that effectively traps particles of all sizes. That includes viruses, pet dander, dust mites, other allergens and even cigarette smoke. IQ Air’s HyperHEPA filtration is tested and certified to filter 99.5% of all particles down to 0.003 microns. These are the smallest particles that exist. IQ Air is the best air purifier available.
TruSens Air Filter
This HEPA air filter helps to eliminate dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke, mold spores, and household odors. TruSens Air Filter is a solid option at an affordable price.
Supplements
There are some great supplements that can help strengthen your health during exposure to toxic air, smoke, and soot and protect your lungs.
Mullein Leaf helps strengthen the oxygen sacs of the lungs.
Micro-C is an expectorant which helps to loosen and remove debris from the air passages.
Lomatium Root is highly effective at aiding respiratory ailments and also helps the body detoxify.
Teas
Herbal teas can also be a great way to support your health during this time (and beyond.) The below teas help to open the bronchial tubes and passageways and reduce inflammation.
Herbs & Spices
Garlic, rosemary, sage, and thyme are especially helpful for improving blood flow into the lungs allowing for detoxification of poisons. The fresh herbs are the most potent and effective to include but dried herbs can be used when fresh is unavailable. They can be added to salads, soups, dips, juices, smoothies, teas, and more. Thyme tea and water that could be easily interchanged with rosemary and/or sage.
Hydration
Staying very well hydrated is critical for protecting your health in situations like these. Drinking plenty of lemon or lime water, cucumber juice, coconut water, and other fresh fruit and vegetable juices will enable your body to detoxify whatever toxins you’re exposed to as best as possible. It will also keep your blood thinner to help your heart provide adequate blood and oxygen to your brain and other organs. It would also be helpful to keep your diet based on as much fresh produce as possible at this time, versus eating too much cooked, dehydrated, or processed food to minimize dehydration.
I pray that this information helps you and your loved ones through this difficult time.
What is air pollution?
Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air—pollutants that are detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), each year, indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million deaths around the globe. Ninety-nine percent of human beings currently breathe air that exceeds the WHO’s guideline limits for pollutants, with those living in low- and middle-income countries suffering the most. In the United States, the Clean Air Act, established in 1970, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to safeguard public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants.
What causes air pollution?
“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says John Walke, director of the Clean Air team at NRDC. Driving a car on gasoline, heating a home with oil, running a power plant on fracked gas: In each case, a fossil fuel is burned and harmful chemicals and gases are released into the air.
“We’ve made progress over the last 50 years in improving air quality in the United States, thanks to the Clean Air Act. But climate change will make it harder in the future to meet pollution standards, which are designed to protect health,” says Walke.
Effects of air pollution
Air pollution is now the world’s fourth-largest risk factor for early death. According to the 2020 State of Global Air report—which summarizes the latest scientific understanding of air pollution around the world—4.5 million deaths were linked to outdoor air pollution exposures in 2019, and another 2.2 million deaths were caused by indoor air pollution. The world’s most populous countries, China and India, continue to bear the highest burdens of disease.
“Despite improvements in reducing global average mortality rates from air pollution, this report also serves as a sobering reminder that the climate crisis threatens to worsen air pollution problems significantly,” explains Vijay Limaye, senior scientist in NRDC’s Science Office. Smog, for instance, is intensified by increased heat, forming when the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet radiation. In addition, climate change increases the production of allergenic air pollutants, including mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather and increased flooding) and pollen (due to a longer pollen season). “Climate change–fueled droughts and dry conditions are also setting the stage for dangerous wildfires,” adds Limaye. “Wildfire smoke can linger for days and pollute the air with particulate matter hundreds of miles downwind.”
The effects of air pollution on the human body vary, depending on the type of pollutant, the length and level of exposure, and other factors, including a person’s individual health risks and the cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants or stressors.
Hazardous air pollutants
A number of air pollutants pose severe health risks and can sometimes be fatal, even in small amounts. Almost 200 of them are regulated by law; some of the most common are mercury, lead, dioxins, and benzene. “These are also most often emitted during gas or coal combustion, incineration, or—in the case of benzene—found in gasoline,” Walke says. Benzene, classified as a carcinogen by the EPA, can cause eye, skin, and lung irritation in the short term and blood disorders in the long term. Dioxins, more typically found in food but also present in small amounts in the air, is another carcinogen that can affect the liver in the short term and harm the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, as well as reproductive functions. Mercury attacks the central nervous system. In large amounts, lead can damage children’s brains and kidneys, and even minimal exposure can affect children’s IQ and ability to learn.
Another category of toxic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are by-products of traffic exhaust and wildfire smoke. In large amounts, they have been linked to eye and lung irritation, blood and liver issues, and even cancer. In one study, the children of mothers exposed to PAHs during pregnancy showed slower brain-processing speeds and more pronounced symptoms of ADHD.
Greenhouse gases
While these climate pollutants don’t have the direct or immediate impacts on the human body associated with other air pollutants, like smog or hazardous chemicals, they are still harmful to our health. By trapping the earth’s heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases lead to warmer temperatures, which in turn lead to the hallmarks of climate change: rising sea levels, more extreme weather, heat-related deaths, and the increased transmission of infectious diseases. In 2021, carbon dioxide accounted for roughly 79 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and methane made up more than 11 percent. “Carbon dioxide comes from combusting fossil fuels, and methane comes from natural and industrial sources, including large amounts that are released during oil and gas drilling,” Walke says. “We emit far larger amounts of carbon dioxide, but methane is significantly more potent, so it’s also very destructive.”
Another class of greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide in their ability to trap heat. In October 2016, more than 140 countries signed the Kigali Agreement to reduce the use of these chemicals—which are found in air conditioners and refrigerators—and develop greener alternatives over time. (The United States officially signed onto the Kigali Agreement in 2022.)
