Western US Forest Fires: How to Make Breathing Easier in Your Home

After witnessing the historic forest fire season last year, it seemed like we saw the worst. But last year’s fire events don’t compare to the 2021 fire season for California and Washington.

California saw 4,599 fires between January 1 and July 4 that burned 114.8 square miles, compared to the same period last year which caused 3,847 fires with a blackout of 48.6 square miles. Washington recently declared a state of emergency due to the extreme heat wave, banning most bonfires, bonfires, clearing of residential yards, garbage disposal, clearing and burning of agricultural land.

Photo by Ludde Lorentz via Unsplash

The smoke from forest fires in some of these areas is palpable, and the availability of face masks is a wise first measure. The authorities can require you to stay indoors. However, just placing it in your home doesn’t offer much protection from another problem that is often overlooked – poor indoor air quality. Poor indoor air quality is seldom visible to the naked eye, but it is the cause of many diseases, from asthma to cancer.

With the spread of the new COVID-19 delta variant, which is being transported by air, and the extended fire season, people in fire areas need to be better prepared for smoke barriers. But how can you improve the air you breathe not only for you and your children, but also for your parents and immunocompromised people?

We have record-breaking hot summer months under control. There are four steps to improving the indoor air quality in your home and keeping your family healthy and safe.

1. Be alert to rapidly developing fire incidents – and prepare

Experts recommend staying indoors on days with moderate air quality warnings, and especially air quality warnings. While most of us are probably most familiar with ozone warning days, particulate matter pollution has the greatest impact on people with compromised immune systems, especially those with lung disease, heart disease, the elderly, or the very young.

2. Keep your home airtight by reducing the ingress of outside air

The most immediate particulate matter hazard is usually within 100 miles of the fire, although particulate matter can linger in the air for up to two weeks after a fire. Even if you can’t see or smell the wildfire, it doesn’t mean that the harmful particles aren’t affecting the air quality in your area. Do not operate ventilation systems in your home that bring outside air into the interior, such as Do your best to keep all doors and windows closed.

Photo by Marcus Kauffman via Unsplash

3. Use your air conditioner to passively “scrub” the air

Don’t rely on standard HVAC filters to collect tiny particulate pollutants like smoke, dust, dander, viruses and bacteria; These particles are too small and pass directly through the filters.

For improved air quality, consider upgrading your HVAC air filter to a HEPA or carbon filter. Both types of filters remove up to 97% of the particles and trap contaminants and particles. HEPA filters remove dust, flakes of skin, and other allergens like mold, while carbon filters remove smoke, fumes, etc. If forest fires are active in your area, you should change the HVAC filters every 30 days.

There are two disadvantages to using these “passive” air treatments, including the high price. Since these are passive air treatment solutions, smoke and other pollutants must also pass through the filter itself.

4. Eliminate smoke from all over your home

Standard oven filters allow 80% of particles 3.0 microns or larger in size to pass through the filter. These particles spread to all air-conditioned areas of the house, which essentially means that the fan mixes the indoor air and creates a relatively even distribution of unhealthy particles.

But what if these pollutant particles were larger so that they could be trapped in filters or inactivated and fall harmlessly to the ground?

Photo by Jenny Uhling from Pexels

Look for active air treatment technologies that work in conjunction with your standard oven air filter and can be easily installed into existing ducts. The technology distributes safe amounts of hydrogen peroxide molecules (comparable to amounts found in sunlight) in all air-conditioned rooms within the home. These airborne hydrogen peroxide molecules actively search for pollutants such as viruses, bacteria, mold and smoke and attach themselves to them. By attaching a hydrogen molecule to a pollutant, the pollutant becomes larger. Even traditional HVAC filters can trap these pollutants and remove them from the air.

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Perhaps the most important active air treatment? The active hydrogen peroxide molecules are distributed in the room. The pollutants do not have to be drawn through a filter. The pollutants are inactivated and rendered harmless if they come into contact with hydrogen peroxide molecules in any part of the room. The use of active air treatment technology in conjunction with your existing HVAC system and inexpensive filters is effective against even the smallest pollutants and viruses.

Side note: Active air treatment technologies have been in the market for decades and have been tested for safety and effectiveness. In fact, you can find these solutions in many commercial and retail stores, as well as grocery stores even in your dental office.

Prepare for an unpredictable summer now

With the pandemic reinvigorating the focus on indoor air quality, there are many untested and untested solutions on the market. Ask your licensed HVAC expert about proven active air cleaning solutions for residential and commercial applications. The installation of these units is simple and relatively non-invasive, but must be completed with a license