The notion that wildfire smoke is ‘natural,’ and therefore less harmful than other types of air pollution, is not supported by the evidence. Wildfire smoke has been linked to adverse health effects.
The association has strengthened over time, with changes in PM2.5 levels leading to larger increases in antibiotic resistance in more recent years, says study
Outdoor air pollution may raise the risk for non-lung cancer in older adults, with even low levels of air pollution exposure increasing the chances for prostate, colorectal, breast, and endometrial cancers.
Over 80 million people from the Midwest to the East Coast are under air quality alerts as smoke from the Canadian wildfires sweep across the U.S. border.
Fires in Canada have sent smoke across several US states, leaving cities including New York, Chicago and Denver with some of the worst air quality in the world – even far from the flames.