Wildfires are a significant danger in many parts of the United States. Even if you don’t live in an area where wildfires often occur, you may still feel their negative effects on your air quality. That’s because wildfire smoke can travel thousands of miles beyond the fire itself.
If your air is being impacted by wildfires, find out how air purifiers can help you protect yourself and your family from exposure to the smoke.
What makes wildfire smoke harmful?
Wildfire smoke contains a vast array of particles from burnt trees and vegetation as well as burnt building materials, including plastics and metal. What makes the smoke so harmful is the fact that most of the particles are extremely small – tiny enough to be breathed deeply into the lungs and potentially cause negative health impacts.
Wildfire smoke can also produce higher levels of ozone, a toxic gas, particularly as the smoke spreads through urban areas.
What are the effects of wildfire smoke?
- Exposure to wildfire smoke can cause temporary irritation in the eyes, nose and throat and impact the respiratory system of otherwise healthy people.
- Young children and the elderly may have a greater risk of harm from the irritants in wildfire smoke and may experience worse respiratory symptoms than healthy adults and adolescents.
- People with existing lung and heart conditions, such as asthma, COPD and cardiovascular disease, may have their conditions triggered or worsened by wildfire smoke.
How can air purifiers help?
Because wildfire smoke contains extremely small particles – smaller than your respiratory tract may be able to filter out on its own – you can use air purifiers to help remove some of these particles from your air.
Honeywell air purifiers with certified HEPA filters can capture up to 99.97% of microscopic particles as small as 0.3 microns, from the air that passes through the filters.
- Wildfire smoke particles are typically 2.5 microns or smaller, often 0.4–0.7 microns in diameter.
- Certified HEPA filters in certain Honeywell air purifiers can capture particles that are even smaller – as small as 0.3 microns – and the filters are able to remove the vast majority of those particles from the air that passes through the filters.
- Honeywell air purifiers can also help filter out dust and allergens (pollen, dust mite debris) that can cause additional irritation to the respiratory tract.
- The result is cleaner, fresher air, circulated back into your room.
Be sure to purchase an air purifier that is the right size for the room in which you plan to use it. An air purifier that is too small for the room will not be able to clean the air effectively. For maximum particle removal, run the air purifier continuously or as frequently as possible.
For added peace of mind, Honeywell air purifiers do not produce ozone, a pollutant that some electronic air cleaners produce, and which wildfires smoke itself can produce.
Wildfire smoke can impact the air quality where you live, even if you don’t live anywhere near the fires themselves. Use Honeywell air purifiers to help protect your indoor air quality, so you and your family can breathe with confidence.
Explore HEPA Air Purifiers for reducing wildfire smoke indoors