Researchers have found that the US experienced its worst toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in its recent recorded history on Wednesday, with people in New York exposed to levels of pollution more than five times above the national air quality standard.
Among other things, the rapid analysis of the extreme event found that smoke billowing south from forest fires in Canada caused Americans to suffer the worst day of average exposure to such pollution since a dataset on smoky conditions started in 2006.
“It’s the worst by far, I mean, Jesus, it was bad,” said Marshall Burke, an environmental scientist at Stanford University who led the work. “It’s hard to believe to be honest, we had to quadruple check it to see if it was right. We have not seen events like this, or even close to this, on the east coast before. This is a historic event.”
The Stanford researchers calculated that the average American on Wednesday was exposed to 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter of small particulate matter carried within the plumes of smoke. These tiny flecks of soot, dust and other burned debris, known as PM2.5, bury deep in the lungs when inhaled and are linked to a variety of health conditions and can cause deaths.
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The researchers found that the high average level of pollution is well beyond the next largest such event, experienced in September 2020 on the US west coast following a record year of fires in the western states, and was far more severe for those directly in the path of the smoke, across much of the north-east US.
In New York, where the sky went from a milky white to a Blade Runner orange over the course of a day when schools and playgrounds shut down outdoor activities and people started donning masks outside not worn since the early days of the pandemic, the particulate matter hit around 195 micrograms, more than five times above the national air quality standard.
“The levels yesterday were quite dangerous, particularly if you are in a vulnerable group,” said Burke, adding that this includes vast swaths of people such as the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with prior medical conditions. “I expect we will see an uptick in respiratory hospitalizations, pre-term births and, sadly, mortalities.”
According to reports, many New Yorkers stayed indoors rather than brave the campfire smell lingering on streets shrouded in smoke but even this did not fully shield most people, with indoor air monitors in Manhattan showing that people experienced more than 100 micrograms of particulate matter.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
