Fire time in southern California is expected to stay. What does this mean to air quality? “Aol

With fires still raging in Los Angeles and strong winds that are expected to continue until Friday, it is unclear when the air quality in the region will improve, local experts said on Thursday.

The time it will take for smoke from fires burning around Los Angeles to dissipate is a moving goal. Much of Los Angeles County is still experiencing unhealthy air due to smoke from the palisades, Ethan and Hurst fires, which collectively burned over 29,000 acres, according to Cal Fire. Everyone at this point has little or no restriction. They were aided by the famous winds of Santa Anna.

“While these fires are burning, there is currently only a ton of smoke in the air,” said Sarah Rees, Deputy Executive Planning Director and Rules in the Southern Air Coast, a local regulatory agency, “told USA Today. “This will continue to cause these dangerous air quality conditions.”

Smoke advisers, dust from burned zones

The air quality area issued advice on at least Thursday nights due to smoke and wind dust from burned areas. The consultations extend far beyond areas directly absorbed by flames.

The winds are somewhat slowed down, but this means that the smoke will spread more, extending to the east, to parts of San Bernardino County and south to Orange County. Both counties are highly populated. The region of the Big Los Angeles, with a population of over 18 million people, already has some of the highest quality of air in the country.

“In the bigger area of ​​LA, we are experiencing air quality levels that are unhealthy for everyone,” Rees said.

Smoke from wild fires – which burns vegetation, but also homes, cars and other human materials – is toxic to inhale due to small particles and gases that enter the lungs and blood. These particles can immediately cause asthma attack in vulnerable people and increase the risks of other lung problems and heart attacks. The longer term, they pose an increased risk of cancer and dementia, according to studies.

All are at risk of this pollution, experts said, but those with the highest risk include young children, adult adults and those who are pregnant, have heart or pulmonary conditions or weakened immune systems.

Nobody knows what’s in the air

More known is more about the effects of respiratory health from burning trees and brush in wild fires, according to Keith Bane, a professional researcher at the Air Quality Research Center, at the University of California, Davis. The effects of burnt synthetic materials are less known in the case of homes and cars, such as in the quiet palisades or Altadena.

Examples of what is called the “increased wildlife interface”, where residential areas and desert occur, began to happen in Northern California in 2017, with the Santa Rosa fire, which destroyed the whole neighborhood and the campfire through 2018 that destroyed the city of Ride. The released chemicals, which in themselves can form compounds, have often not been measured or discovered before, Bane said.

The effects of acute exposure, with days of wild fires, are unknown. It is also unclear how this affects the communities in and around Los Angeles.

“These fires are not so great in terms of California fires, but it’s just so densely populated that the impact of public exposure is really high,” Bane said.

“The cherry on top,” he added, is that the fires are burning structures, consumer products and other materials. This changes the physical and chemical composition of air pollution.

In the long run, it is also unclear how these pollutants can be present in the soil, water or even inside the nearby homes that have not burned.

Once the fires get under control, the wind can help to push some particles out of the air, as well as gravity with some larger compounds. Gases and fine particles can be hanging longer.

Smoke Safety Safety Tips: How to keep your family and favorite pets in safety

In burned areas, winds or cleaning movement can lift contaminated soil by returning them to the air.

For now, employees recommend that people look for air quality levels and try to limit their exposure outdoors. Inside, people should keep the air as clean as possible by keeping windows closed and using air filters and air conditioners that are not attracted to unfiltered air directly outside.

This article originally appeared in the USA Today: La Fire Weather to keep as an air quality concerns