1 00:00:01,333 --> 00:00:03,400 JOHN YANG: Last month, even before summer began, 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,833 smoke from Canadian wildfires triggered air quality alerts in the upper Midwest 3 00:00:06,833 --> 00:00:11,833 and Great Plains and at the same time, fires in Mexico affected air quality along the Gulf 4 00:00:13,933 --> 00:00:17,633 Coast from Texas to Florida. It all brought back memories of last year's record setting 5 00:00:19,666 --> 00:00:22,800 fires in Canada that set a haze of smoke drifting over the Midwest and east coast. 6 00:00:24,866 --> 00:00:28,266 Smoke from wildfires hundreds of miles away is still ahead threat. A recent National 7 00:00:30,333 --> 00:00:33,533 Bureau of Economic Research analysis says it contributes to nearly 16,000 deaths a year. 8 00:00:35,033 --> 00:00:37,700 Laura Kate Bender leads the Healthy Air Campaign for the 9 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:42,666 American Lung Association. Laura Kate what is in wildfire smoke that makes it so hazardous? 10 00:00:45,033 --> 00:00:47,500 LAURA KATE BENDER, American Lung Association: One of the main components of wildfire smoke that's 11 00:00:47,500 --> 00:00:50,766 so dangerous is fine particle pollution. These tiny bits of stuff can get deep into your lungs, 12 00:00:50,766 --> 00:00:54,033 and if they're small enough, they can even get into your bloodstream when they cause a host 13 00:00:54,033 --> 00:00:58,666 of health harms. There's a bunch of other harmful chemicals and wildfire smoke too, 14 00:00:58,666 --> 00:01:03,000 particularly if it's burning houses, cars and other things from built structures. 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,800 JOHN YANG: Is it just as dangerous if the fire is hundreds of miles away, 16 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,133 or if the fire is down the street? 17 00:01:09,133 --> 00:01:12,933 LAURA KATE BENDER: Neither is safe. It can change the composition. It can change the mix. But the 18 00:01:12,933 --> 00:01:16,966 fact remains that people, whether close to the fire or far away, should both take precautions. 19 00:01:16,966 --> 00:01:21,300 JOHN YANG: What are the health threats? What can wildfire, inhaling wildfire smoke bring on? 20 00:01:21,300 --> 00:01:24,800 LAURA KATE BENDER: What people might experience during the smoke event is they might have burning 21 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,800 eyes, a burning throat, coughing or wheezing. If you have asthma, COPD or another lung disease, 22 00:01:31,966 --> 00:01:34,466 you could actually have an exacerbation. People can have heart attacks and strokes, and it goes 23 00:01:34,466 --> 00:01:38,666 all the way up to premature death. So there can be some really serious health consequences. 24 00:01:38,666 --> 00:01:41,633 JOHN YANG: Premature death from illness brought on by the smoker 25 00:01:41,633 --> 00:01:44,566 from the trauma breathing in the smoke at the moment? 26 00:01:44,566 --> 00:01:46,533 LAURA KATE BENDER: We know that particle pollution 27 00:01:46,533 --> 00:01:49,633 itself can cause premature death from both short term and long term exposures, 28 00:01:49,633 --> 00:01:53,866 and we know that wildfire smoke can exacerbate existing lung and heart disease and cause some 29 00:01:53,866 --> 00:01:58,233 of those health impacts that can send you to the hospital or even cause premature death. 30 00:01:58,233 --> 00:02:00,466 JOHN YANG: What should people do to protect themselves? 31 00:02:00,466 --> 00:02:04,466 LAURA KATE BENDER: People can take steps before, during and after a wildfire. Before, 32 00:02:04,466 --> 00:02:08,600 you should get in the habit of checking your air quality. Airnow.gov is a great place to 33 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:13,433 do it. It's also on weather reports. People can also prepare now, for example, if they 34 00:02:13,433 --> 00:02:17,300 think they're going to get smoke this summer again, they might want to buy an air cleaner, 35 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:21,433 a device that they can use that doesn't add pollution to the air, that just filters it. 36 00:02:21,433 --> 00:02:26,100 And then, in the event of a fire, people should stay out of the smoke. If you're in your home, 37 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:31,033 you can run that air cleaner in a closed off room to create as much of a clean space as possible. 38 00:02:31,033 --> 00:02:34,833 You can make sure your air conditioner, if you have central AC, is recirculating, 39 00:02:34,833 --> 00:02:39,333 not pulling air in from the outside. You can readjust your plans. If you have exercise 40 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:43,333 outdoors plans that day, for example, that would be a good day to move that indoors. 41 00:02:43,333 --> 00:02:46,400 JOHN YANG: Even if you live hundreds of miles away from where wildfires 42 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,800 are likely to take place. These are precautions you should be taking? 43 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,566 LAURA KATE BENDER: Absolutely if smoke is in the forecast. You know, I think myself and many others 44 00:02:53,566 --> 00:02:58,266 experienced after thinking of wildfires as more of a West Coast problem. Here in the DC area, 45 00:02:58,266 --> 00:03:02,266 we had days with hazardous levels of air pollution, and I, as someone with asthma, 46 00:03:02,266 --> 00:03:06,200 absolutely changed my routine to make sure that I wasn't exercising outdoors on those days. 47 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:07,733 JOHN YANG: Mentioned people with asthma. Are there 48 00:03:07,733 --> 00:03:11,300 other any other populations who need to be particularly careful? 49 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:15,066 LAURA KATE BENDER: Wildfire smoke can impact health for anyone. But if you are an older adult, 50 00:03:15,066 --> 00:03:19,666 if you are a child, if you're pregnant, if you spend a lot of time outdoors, either working 51 00:03:19,666 --> 00:03:24,100 or exercising, or if you have an underlying condition like a lung or a heart disease, 52 00:03:24,100 --> 00:03:26,933 those are some of the things that can put you at greater risk of health harm. 53 00:03:26,933 --> 00:03:29,900 JOHN YANG: It can affect anybody. But is there evidence that any groups 54 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:32,100 are disproportionately affected? 55 00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:35,600 LAURA KATE BENDER: Unfortunately, we know, as with so many air pollution issues, 56 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,266 that communities of color and low income communities tend to be at greater risk. 57 00:03:39,266 --> 00:03:41,433 JOHN YANG: Why is that? 58 00:03:41,433 --> 00:03:44,266 LAURA KATE BENDER: Unfortunately, histories of redlining, other practices that have left 59 00:03:44,266 --> 00:03:48,133 people with polluting sources close to their neighborhoods that creates a lot 60 00:03:48,133 --> 00:03:53,133 of overlapping risk factors. We also know that people might be more likely to work outdoors, 61 00:03:54,900 --> 00:03:57,100 be less likely to have central air conditioning or a car that they can 62 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:00,466 keep the windows closed and the AC on. And so there's a lot of factors that could put 63 00:04:00,466 --> 00:04:05,100 people at greater risk of not just exposure, but also health harms from those exposures. 64 00:04:05,100 --> 00:04:06,966 JOHN YANG: And I know the American Lung Association 65 00:04:06,966 --> 00:04:11,666 has ideas or suggestions about what can be done to mitigate these dangers 66 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,700 and the fires themselves. What would the Lung Association like to see done? 67 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:19,233 LAURA KATE BENDER: For individuals, everybody can and should take steps 68 00:04:19,233 --> 00:04:24,233 to protect themselves. We have resources at lung.org/wildfire. Folks can also 69 00:04:26,166 --> 00:04:29,233 use the website I mentioned earlier, airnow.gov to look up their air quality. 70 00:04:29,233 --> 00:04:32,900 Policy makers at every level also have a role to play. Number one, 71 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:37,900 we know that climate change is making wildfire risk worse, so continued action on climate change, 72 00:04:39,766 --> 00:04:41,800 implementing the policies we have to clean up our cars and our power plants 73 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:46,533 and doing more will help make this problem less likely to get worse in the future. 74 00:04:48,533 --> 00:04:51,700 One more policy recommendation is the use of prescribed fire. It's a tough trade off, 75 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:55,433 but we know that prescribed fire under the right circumstances, 76 00:04:55,433 --> 00:04:58,733 can help make catastrophic wildfires less likely. 77 00:04:58,733 --> 00:05:01,133 JOHN YANG: Controlled fires sort of burning away the underbrush. 78 00:05:01,133 --> 00:05:03,000 LAURA KATE BENDER: Yes, and there's steps that we can take to make that 79 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,666 less risky for lung health. It's an unfortunate trade off, 80 00:05:05,666 --> 00:05:10,300 but it can help make lung health better over the long term under the right circumstances. 81 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:13,366 JOHN YANG: Laura Kate Bender of the American Lung Association, thank you very much. 82 00:05:13,366 --> 00:05:14,300 LAURA KATE BENDER: Thanks for having me.