What Am I Breathing?
By: Jennifer Mittler-Lee
Tags: Education, Outdoors, Health, Science, Environment

What Am I Breathing?

Searching the Air Quality Index for answers

By John Newman, from the interagency — http://inciweb.org/incident/pictures/large/770/22/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2932792

The air quality in my Central Oregon town has been “hazardous” for five days in a row now. My family is on lockdown, ten times worse than during the height of the coronavirus quarantine.

At least I could go outside then.

And outside makes all the difference. Outside means fresh air, exercise, and inner peace. Inside means Netflix, pacing the floor, checking fire map apps, and more Netflix.

I get it, I’m lucky. At least I still have a home. But if coronavirus taught us anything, it’s that fear and anxiety can be worse than an actual event.

Answers help. Information helps. And right now, I want to know what the heck am I breathing?

Outside the sky ranges from gray to orange to green. My throat hurts, eyes itch, and my sinuses are going haywire.

And I’ve been holed-up indoors with multiple air filters running.

I think my town is doing pretty well. It has canceled services and encouraged people to stay inside. Updates are frequent and advice is adequate, but I still want to know more.

What makes air quality hazardous? Let’s dive in.

Air Quality Index Chart/AirNow.gov

Hazardous

Color- dark maroon (old, congealed blood) this is not a good color.

Values of Index- 301 and higher.

Description of Air Quality: health warning of emergency conditions; everyone is more likely to be affected.

See what I did there? I skipped right to the ranking everyone cares about.

Mostly this is good information. It scares me and keeps me inside. But what exactly is this “value of index” number? It relates to the air quality index.

Air quality index

The Air Quality Index (AQI) as we know it has been in existence since 1968. Its original purpose was to inform the general public about air pollution with the hopes that better education would lead to a reduction.

Today, the AQI is calculated using real-time data from monitoring stations scattered across the nation.

The AQI measures ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.

Wildfire air concerns

But what specifically do wildfires contribute to the AQI? The biggest component is fine, organic particulate matter. It is these tiny particles that can settle deep into the lungs and cause a host of short and long term health consequences.

Symptoms may be minor (respiratory tract irritation, wheezing), or severe (asthma exacerbation, bronchitis, heart failure, and premature death).

Chronic exposure can lead to an increased risk of heart and lung disease and cancer.

Wildfires also pump gaseous contaminants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde into the air.

Carbon monoxide is normally only of concern to first-responders because it tends to stay near the fire’s source. But exposure can lead to weakness, confusion, coma, and eventually death.

Indoor air quality

We all know to stay inside and keep windows closed on bad air quality days. But studies have suggested that even in homes with closed windows and central air and heating, indoor pollution can still be 30 to 40 % of outdoor levels.

The good news is that these rates are drastically reduced with quality air filters.

While the monetary cost of installing filtration systems in a home’s forced-air heating and cooling system is high, it’s clear there are bigger picture health benefits. These continuously running filters remove non-wildfire related pollutants as well.

Face masks

You may be wondering at this point if your handy face mask will help protect from wildfire smoke.

The short answer is no.

Only N95s can filter out the fine particular matter effectively, and we are all reserving those for first responders and healthcare workers, right?

Sadly, even they won’t help filter out the hazardous gases contained in the smoke. Plus, people wearing masks may find it harder to breathe.

By Ron Reiring — Malibu is burning 10/07Uploaded by X-Weinzar, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11265325

Protect yourself

First, the obvious answer- stay indoors if you can.

But this only holds true for “tight” houses, those with air-conditioners to recirculate and filter the air.

People with older homes or without AC may need additional help. Keeping windows closed, especially in the summer, may increase the heat in the house to unsafe levels.

In this case, it is advised to stay with family or friends or visit public buildings with air conditioning such as local libraries, churches, or malls.

Other tips:

During wildfire season, stock up on food, medicine, and other essentials to avoid going out

Reduce physical activity, this is your excuse to be lazy

Invest in a whole-house filtration system or at least employ portable air filters in frequently used rooms

Reduce other sources of indoor pollutants. Don’t light candles, spray aerosols, or fry foods

Take advantage of good air quality days and air out the house

Stay up to date by using AQI tracking apps or websites

And lastly, hope for the best but plan for the worst.

Pack an overnight bag and place it by the door. Gather all your important documents and priceless items and place those by the door.

As we’ve seen, wildfires spread so fast, and the most common response by survivors is that they didn’t have time.

Be safe out there.