Wildfire smoke increases risk of dementia, say US researchers
As well as trees and vegetation going up in flames during wildfires, ‘burning gas stations, homes and cars also put a toxic soup into the air’
The wildfire smoke that has blanketed Michigan in the United States this month could take a toll on health long after clearing.
The particles that form plumes of wildfire smoke are small (the average human hair is at least 30 times larger). That means they can seep into our blood, where they pose a triple threat to our lungs, hearts and brains, medical researchers say.
Doctors and medical researchers have known for decades that air pollution is linked to early death, said Sara Adar, a University of Michigan epidemiology professor and associate editor at the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
From there, they discovered that air pollution hurts the respiratory and circulatory systems.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says particulate matter exposure can cause coughing, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeats, asthma attacks and more.
Within the past decade, the pollutant has also been linked to affecting brain function, Adar said.
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Parts of South Korea and Japan ravaged by wildfires, forcing thousands of people to flee