Smoke from Canadian wildfires is making the air dangerous in parts of Canada and the United States. The air is considered hazardous when the quality index — which measures the density of five pollutants — tops 300. On Thursday, Toledo, Milwaukee and Detroit had A.Q.I. levels over 500.
Where the index is that high, “nobody should spend time outside,” said Laura Corlin, an associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. “The level is literally dangerous for everybody.”
“Our bodies are resilient up to a certain amount, but this is like this constant barrage,” she added.
While scientists have linked wildfire smoke to several health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems, they are still trying to understand the specific risks of such high levels of pollution.
“We very rarely see such extreme air quality events, and so most of the studies — certainly most of the studies in North America — you don’t see air pollution values anywhere close to this,” Dr. Corlin said.
Dr. Alex Rabin, a pulmonologist at Michigan Medicine, said that health problems are much more likely when the concentration of particle pollution is “astronomically high,” as it is in some areas today.
The effects include wheezing and coughing. This can happen to anyone at such high A.Q.I. levels, Dr. Corlin said, but people with asthma will experience even worse symptoms. The smoke can also cause stinging eyes, a scratchy throat, runny nose, irritated sinuses, headache and fatigue.
Wildfire smoke also increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, particularly for people with underlying cardiovascular disease. But when the air quality is so severe, everyone — even young and healthy people — is at higher risk, Dr. Corlin said.
“I’m particularly concerned about my 100-year-old grandfather, but I’m also concerned about just the healthy adult walking down the street,” she said.
If your chest hurts or you struggle to breathe, you should seek immediate medical attention, experts said.
People with underlying health conditions, including heart and lung disease, are most vulnerable. Children are also at higher risk, because their airways are still developing. So are pregnant women, because inhaling smoke may harm the fetus and contribute to preterm birth and low birth-weight.
Dr. Rabin said that the emergency room where he works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., was seeing patients on Thursday whose underlying lung conditions, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, had been exacerbated by the smoke.
The long-term effects of breathing in such heavily polluted air are not clear. And we do not know yet exactly when the smoke will subside.
“Who knows how long this is going to go on for?” Dr. Rabin said. “This could linger for quite some time.”
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