GREEN” The Air Quality Advisory for today Monday April 30th, TO NOON, tomorrow Tuesday May 1st IS GREEN. 

                                  

The Green Advisory Call means:  

 

1.    ALL WOODSTOVES, PELLET STOVES AND FIREPLACES MAY BE USED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE AQ ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.100.

 

2.    OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE AIR QUALITY ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.150 (2). 

 

 

3.    OUTDOOR OR OPEN BURNING IS ALLOWED OUTSIDE THE AIR QUALITY ZONE as per oar# 340-264-0060 (3) and Klamath County Ordinance # 406.100 (4)(E), You must have a permit for outdoor burning in Chiloquin. Call Chiloquin’s Fire District office for a permit Do not burn trash.

 

 

Air Quality Awareness 2018 week

 

Health effects of smoke

 

Wildfires expose populations to a number of environmental hazards, e.g., fire, smoke, and the byproducts of combustion of wood, as well as, plastics and other chemicals that can be released from burning structures and furnishings, and also hazards such as psychological stress. During the acute phase, the major hazards are from the wildfire itself and associated smoke exposure.

Particulate matter exposure is the principal public health threat from short-term exposures to wildfire smoke. The effects of smoke range from eye and respiratory tract irritation to more serious disorders, including reduced lung function, bronchitis, exacerbation of asthma and heart failure, and premature death. Most of our understanding on the health effects of wildfire smoke are derived from studies of urban particulate matter, specifically fine particulate matter. These studies have found that short-term exposures (i.e., days to weeks) to fine particles, a major component of smoke, are linked with increased premature mortality and aggravation of pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Children, pregnant women, and elderly are also especially vulnerable to smoke exposure. In addition, fine particles are respiratory irritants, and exposures to high concentrations can cause persistent cough, phlegm, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. Exposures to fine particles can also affect healthy people, causing respiratory symptoms, transient reductions in lung function, and pulmonary inflammation. Particulate matter may also affect the body’s physiological mechanisms that remove inhaled foreign materials from the lungs, such as pollen and bacteria.

 

Carbon monoxide (CO) enters the bloodstream through the lungs and reduces oxygen delivery to the body’s organs and tissues. CO concentrations typical of population exposures related to wildfire smoke do not pose a significant hazard, except to some sensitive individuals and to firefighters very close to the fire line. Individuals who may experience health effects from lower levels of CO are those who have cardiovascular disease: they may experience chest pain or cardiac arrhythmias. At higher levels (such as those that occur in major structural fires), CO exposure can cause headache, weakness, dizziness, confusion, nausea, disorientation, visual impairment, coma, and death, even in otherwise healthy individuals.

 

Wildfire smoke also contains significant quantities of respiratory irritants, which can act in concert to produce eye and respiratory irritation and potentially exacerbate asthma. Formaldehyde and acrolein are two of the principal contributors to the cumulative irritant properties of smoke.

 

One concern that may be raised by members of the general public is whether they run an increased risk of cancer or of other chronic health conditions (e.g. heart disease) from short-term exposure to wildfire smoke. It is well characterized that smoke contains carcinogenic components with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) comprising the largest percent, and to a lesser extent benzene and formaldehyde. People exposed to toxic air pollutants, such as the ones mentioned above, at sufficient concentrations and durations may have slightly increased risks of cancer or of experiencing other chronic health problems. However, in general, the long-term risks from short-term smoke exposures are quite low. Short-term elevated exposures (i.e., 14 over days to weeks) to carcinogens found in wildfire smoke are also small relative to total lifetime exposures to carcinogens in other, more common combustion sources. For example, epidemiological studies have shown that urban firefighters who are occupationally exposed to smoke over an entire working lifetime are at increased risk of developing lung cancer (Hansen 1990) and other cancers (Daniels et al. 2014).

 

It is important to recognize that not everyone who is exposed to thick smoke from wildfires will have health problems. The level and duration of exposure, age, individual susceptibility, including the presence or absence of pre-existing lung (e.g., asthma, COPD) or heart disease, and other factors play significant roles in determining whether someone will experience smoke-related health problems. The types of potential individual responses should be discussed in public warnings about risks and the need to avoid exposure to smoke.