Air quality not up to par — Smoke raises concerns
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The air quality alert changed from yellow to red on Wednesday as smoke from wildfires in Quebec and Ontario, covered large portions of the Northeast including central Pennsylvania.
Barry Lambert, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in State College, said, "This is because of a thicker plume of smoke headed down from the fires in Canada."
According to an alert from AccuWeather, red means that air pollution concentrations are unhealthy, and the general public may experience mild health effects.
Lambert said those with respiratory and heart conditions, children, older adults and pregnant women should be careful when going outside and wear an N95 mask to filter the air if possible.
The weather service recommends avoiding strenuous outdoor activities, keeping outdoor activities short and consider moving activities indoors or rescheduling them.
Lambert said because of the smoke, visibility might be reduced in some areas.
A storm has been stationary over New England for a few days and it has been pushing the smoke toward this area, Lambert said.
He expects conditions to remain the same until at least Friday and for things to improve on Saturday as the storm moves offshore.
George Zlupko, the director of the Lung Disease Center of Central PA, said the air quality has had a lot of people calling into the office and other doctors asking what to do.
"People with asthma or COPD have conditions where they experience chronic irritation and the smoke creates more of that," he said. "Airways squeeze shut and it makes it harder to breathe."
Because of this people can experience wheezing and coughing.
Zlupko said the smoke is probably going to continue for a few days with some being worse than others.
"We might have a fair amount of smoke in the coming days, but it really depends on how the wildfires in Canada go," he said.
Zlupko said that there is not much people can do outside to protect themselves and recommends staying inside.
A UPMC spokesperson said they have not seen any patient volume related to the air quality.
When indoors, it can be helpful to have windows and doors closed and use devices in windows with HEPA filters to help reduce the particles that are coming into the home, UPMC advised.
It can also be helpful to have fans or other devices, especially those with HEPA filters, to help circulate the indoor air.
Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith is at 814-946-7535.