Hazy days: Wildfire smoke prompts air quality warnings
Jun. 27—TRAVERSE CITY — Fires raging in Canada cast a pale, pungent haze over parts of Michigan, creating health risks for more than just vulnerable populations.
Levels of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns reached amounts in some parts that health experts considered unsafe for everyone, according to a release from the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department. That had health departments across the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas warning people to limit their exposure by staying inside as much as possible.
Air quality indices as of 5 p.m. Tuesday were at 165 near Cedar and 187 in Kalkaska, both considered unhealthy, according to AirNow.gov. Other locales, like Houghton Lake, were down to 201, still considered extremely unhealthy.
Vulnerable populations are particularly at risk, said Dr. Joshua Meyerson, Health Department of Northwest Michigan's medical director. That includes very young children, older people, those with underlying lung diseases and cardiovascular issues. People with asthma are also at risk.
"But really anyone, it can create irritation of the respiratory tract, so they can have symptoms especially if they're outdoors exerting themselves where they're breathing heavily, they can have more difficulty and notice more symptoms in that situation," he said.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing and watering eyes, and are a sign to head indoors, Meyerson added. He also recommended people use air conditioners with filters, or high-efficiency air filters. For anyone who must work outside, using an N95 mask can cut exposure to soot particles.
The airborne matter is small — it would take at least 1,000 such particles stacked up to measure 2.5 millimeters. Meyerson said those particles can get deep inside the lungs, but short-term exposure shouldn't cause any lasting health concerns.
While wildfire smoke over the Great Lakes region is nothing new, most are used to its effects when it's much higher in the atmosphere, said Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Usually the most noticeable impacts from faraway wildfires are colorful sunsets and sunrises.
"This is much closer in proximity so there's not a lot of time or distance for the smoke to loft up into the upper atmosphere and disperse, so it's staying pretty close to the ground and we're obviously able to see it and smell it," he said.
A low pressure system over Toronto had winds blowing from the northwest, Kownacki said. That system was headed east and, once it's gone, incoming high pressure systems should shift the wind direction to coming from the south.
While EGLE's Air Quality Division extended its air quality alert through Wednesday, conditions could continue into Thursday if those southerly winds bring back some of that wildfire smoke, Kownacki said.
"It's kind of a double whammy, like, 'Really? Are you kidding me right now?' But that's just how the weather patterns are setting up," he said.
Kownacki said he's heard reports that the smoke has a chemical smell to it, but wasn't sure as to why. It's possible that other airborne pollution could be mixing in, he said.
Huge amounts of ground-level smoke is a rare occurrence for Michigan, Kownacki said. It'll continue as long as wildfires in Canada keep burning and wind directions are right for pushing it over the state.
Numerous studies have linked climate change to more wildfires, lengthening the season and increasing the frequency and area burned, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Meyerson said he hopes smoke-filled skies doesn't become the new normal in Michigan.
