Fires in the Los Angeles area have stretched across tens of thousands of acres, spreading smoke and ash throughout Southern California.
Breathing in smoke, which contains tiny particles called PM2.5, can spread chemicals, dust, soot and metals throughout the human body.
In short doses, smoke exposure has been linked to premature death, hospital admissions, bronchitis, asthma attacks and other respiratory and cardiac problems, the California Air Resources Board said.
And long-term exposure can cause another host of issues, Dr. Lipi Roy tells NewsNation.
Roy warned that long-term exposure can lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and lung cancer, among other diseases. The World Health Organization associates 7 million premature deaths annually to indoor and outdoor air pollution.
The Environmental Protection Agency says there aren’t enough studies to accurately link long-term wildfire smoke exposure over multiple seasons to specific diseases, though short-term and cumulative short-term exposure can cause myriad problems.