Dusting and Mopping Better Than Air Purifiers for Cleaning Indoor Air After a Wildfire
Even after smoke from a wildfire has visibly cleared, lingering toxins indoors can tank air quality and threaten our health. Harmful chemicals stick around on surfaces and release into the air—and, new research found, air filters won’t get rid of them.
In a study published this month in Science Advances, scientists documented how smoke leaves behind chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that remain on surfaces inside a home. Those chemicals are emitted back into the air for days after wildfire smoke has cleared up outside, polluting the air inside of a home and exposing residents to various health risks. Air purifiers didn’t get rid of these chemicals, but the researchers found that cleaning surfaces—mopping floors and washing walls—did significantly reduce the VOCs that could be detected in the air.
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The researchers opened windows and doors to ventilate the home they were experimenting in, but they found that the VOC levels increased again as soon as they stopped ventilating. The only permanent solution was cleaning. Farmer noted that the need to strategically clean indoors after wildfires will be relevant to ever more people across North America, referencing the apocalyptic wildfire events throughout the continent this summer. Even people far from a fire were affected, as clouds of smoke spread from Canada to the U.S. Northeast.
When asked about improving indoor air during a smoke event that lasts for days, Farmer suggested an air purifier during the smoke event to decrease the amount of particulate matter in the air, and to clean surfaces for VOCs soon afterward. “The longer you wait to clean, the longer you’re going to be exposed,” she said.
These results are relevant to other, less dramatic events that affect indoor air quality. “Although this paper focuses on wildfire smoke, our results may apply to other air pollution scenarios, including intensive cooking, infiltration of heavy urban smog, cigarette smoking, or other indoor emission activities,” the team said in a statement.
The aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii
Volunteers from Samaritan’s Purse help displaced residents search for meaningful personal items at their wildfire destroyed home on October 05, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Flames from the Yarnell Hill fire north of Phoenix
The Yarnell Hill fire burns in this view from Highway I-17 June 29, 2013 near the town of Yarnell, Arizona, about 80 miles (128 km) northwest of Phoenix.
The 2021 Dixie Fire quickly exploded in size
A firefighter battles flames during the Dixie Fire in Genesee, California, U.S., on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. The Dixie Fire grew overnight by nearly 10,000 acres, to 714,219 acres.
The Mendocino Complex fire burned over 400,000 acres in 2018
Cal Fire firefighters monitor a back fire as they battle the Mendocino Complex fire on August 7, 2018 near Lodoga, California.
The 2018 Camp Fire killed more than 80 people
West Sacramento firefighters battle the Camp Fire on Honey Run Road in Paradise, California, on November 9, 2018.
The Tubbs Fire in Northern California killed 22 people
Firefighters try to extinguish a house fire during the Tubbs Fire on October 12, 2017 near Calistoga, California.
The Glass Fire in 2020 forced tens of thousands to evacuate
A helicopter refills water for an air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, California, September 30, 2020.
The 2021 Caldor Fire burned hundreds of structures, including homes
Fire crews worked to stop the Caldor Fire from spreading in California, United States on August 30, 2021.
A trailer park in California after the Hennessey Fire in 2020
Destruction from the Hennesey Fire is seen at the Spanish Flat Mobile Villa trailer park in Lake Berryessa, California on August. 26, 2020.
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