Wildfire Smoke Chokes Southeast, Brings Health Threats - WebMD

Wildfire Smoke Chokes Much of the Southeast

Nov. 16, 2016 -- People living across the southeastern U.S. have been dealing with an unfamiliar health threat in recent days: a thick haze of smoke that’s drifted from more than 30 wildfires burning in the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian Mountains.

On Wednesday, the EPA’s AirNow monitor showed a red swath of unhealthy air that stretched from West Virginia to south Georgia. A red alert has been issued for the area, meaning even healthy people may experience problems because of poor air quality. Sensitive people -- like children, the elderly, and those with asthma and heart disease -- are at even greater risk.

Hospitals in Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina say more patients are seeking help for breathing problems related to the smoke.

Chattanooga, TN, has been especially hard-hit. More than 200 people there have been hospitalized for shortness of breath and breathing problems due to the wildfire smoke since November 11, says Dean Flener, a Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman.

In Atlanta, where aerial photographs show the city’s downtown buildings shrouded in thick smoke at times, doctors also say they’ve seen more patients who are struggling to breathe.

“We’ve seen a big increase in the number of respiratory complaints coming in, specifically with people who have preexisting conditions like asthma,” said Hany Atallah, MD, chief of emergency medicine at Grady Health System. He says the hospital is considering setting aside a separate area to treat those with breathing problems.

In South Carolina, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System says it’s seen sporadic increases in people seeking emergency care for breathing problems related to the smoke, spokeswoman Jessica Pickens says.

Wildfire smoke contains cancer-causing chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. It also contains fine particles -- about 60 times smaller than the width of a human hair -- that can lodge deep in the lungs. The particles irritate the lining of the respiratory tract, causing the airways to narrow. This causes coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, especially in people who already have lung problems. The particles can also block the immune system from clearing other invaders like pollen and bacteria, making even healthy people more likely to get sick.