can ashes from a wildfire have an effect on you or your children?!
Question:
there is a fire in the hills.
Answers:
Sure:
Fine particles of invisible soot and ash are too small for the human respiratory system to filter out. Their effects range from irritation to an increased risk of contracting cancer.
The gases found downwind in the smoke plume of a burning fire include
* aldehydes, which irritate eyes, nose, and mouth and can lead to airway damage; some forms, such as formaldehyde, are also carcinogenic
* nitrogen oxides and other chemicals associated with smog formation and acid rain
* ozone, which inflames and impairs lungs and can trigger asthma attacks
* polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which can cause cancer with repeated exposure
* volatile organic compounds, composed of hydrocarbons and partially oxidized compounds that, when mixed with some types of industrial pollution, make smog worse
* plus heavy metals and carbon monoxide (see below)
When air quality warnings are issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service or other agencies, the EPA recommends staying indoors and filtering air through an air conditioner, wearing a respirator rated for fine particles, or leaving the area until the fire is suppressed or the winds have shifted.
Heavy metals may reach such high temperatures that they turn into gases in the heat of wildfires. NCAR researcher Hans Friedli and colleagues have found significant amounts of one metal, mercury, in laboratory burns and in research flights over wildland fires.
Atmospheric mercury (from both natural and human-generated sources) is absorbed by forest vegetation when it falls or rains out onto leaves or needles. During a wildfire, the stored mercury is released back into the atmosphere, only to fall or rain out again. This redistributed mercury can enter watersheds (water sources), where interaction with microbes converts it into methyl mercury, a neurotoxin.
Wildfires also contribute large quantities of carbon monoxide (CO) to the atmosphere. Inhaling too much CO can be fatal, and this gas poses the greatest threat to wildland firefighters, who must watch for signs of lightheadedness or disorientation.
An urban area downwind from a wildfire might see levels of CO exceeding EPA standards.
Large, intense fires add such sizeable amounts of CO to the atmosphere that this gas can be measured hundreds or thousands of miles away—even from space. And because CO persists in the atmosphere for several weeks, it can be used to trace the path of pollution plumes above wildfires drifting for thousands of miles.
Other Answers:
if you breath them in, i suppose that cant be very healthy.
Yes, the smoke and ash can have some damaging effects. Best bet is to take them to the doctor (yourself as well).
My sister lives near controlled fires which have caused some trouble with her lungs. Her doctor has put her on a steroid to clear things up.
Always better to be safe than sorry.
it depends if u talkin about ur or ur children health the answer is yes, because its still dust and will damage ur nastral n the lung.
Source(s):
bushfire.com.au
Answers: