PARENTS
How to Protect Kids From Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke is especially risky for children. Here’s how to keep their little lungs safe!
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PARENTS
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Happiest Baby Staff
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Every year, there’s an average of 32,000 wildfire incidents in the UK. And data shows that the situation is just getting worse. For example, in the summer of 2022, wildfires in the UK increased by 118%. With that, more families are faced with the immediate and long-term fallout, including exposure to dangerous wildfire smoke. That is why paediatrics experts note that wildfire smoke is a “growing threat to vulnerable children.” Here is what you need to know to help keep your children safe from wildfire smoke.
The smoke from wildfires contains teeny particles from the plants, trees, vehicles, homes, buildings, and everything else they burn. This adds up to a whole lot of unsavory and unhealthy material floating in the air, waiting to be inhaled. In fact, it is thought that wildfire smoke might be 10 times as toxic as air pollution from burning fossil fuels! Short-term exposure to wildfire smoke can trigger coughing and asthma attacks in children. And repeated exposure may even reduce a child’s lung function.
Here is why wildfire smoke is especially dangerous for kids:
Yes! Wildfires particles are roughly 10 times more harmful on children’s respiratory health than particles from other sources—and this is especially true for children aged 0 to 5 years old, according to a 2021 study in the journal Pediatrics. Plus, earlier studies in America found there was a 70% increase in ER visits for respiratory issues during wildfire season for children aged 0 to 4.
Researchers note that even limited exposure to wildfire smoke could lead to chronic health issues.
Even short-term exposure to wildfire smoke can cause irritation and swelling in a child’s airways, which can impact their breathing and cause other distressing respiratory symptoms, like coughing and asthma attacks.
Here are some common signs and symptoms of wildfire smoke inhalation in children:
In addition, research shows that rerepeated and/or early exposure to wildfire smoke can negatively affect a child’s heart, lung, and immune system health over their lifetime.
Yes! All pregnant individuals should actively avoid—or at the very least, limit exposure to—wildfire smoke as much as possible. During pregnancy, you naturally breathe more air in and out (aka increased respiration) and have a reduced lung capacity, which makes you especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of wildfire smoke. Research has shown that exposure to heavy metals and industrial solvents found in wildfire smoke can be harmful to foetal development and put you at an elevated risk of low birth weight and preterm birth. For example, over a five-year span in California, as many as 7,000 preterm births were likely linked to wildfire smoke exposure, according to a 2022 report in the journal Environmental Research. The study went on to note that as little as one day of wildfire smoke exposure in pregnancy may raise the risk of preterm birth.
If you live in an area where there is a history of wildfires, then your family needs a disaster plan that includes having a wildfire disaster kit at the ready at all times. (Here is some info on how to prep your kit.) Of course, if a wildfire is burning near you, evacuate as soon as authorities recommend you do so.
In the meantime, here are some ways to help keep your child safe from wildfire smoke:
If you are worried about wildfire smoke exposure, do not hesitate to call your child’s paediatrician at any time! But make sure you reach out to a healthcare professional if your child…
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