NJ air quality is dangerously poor right now. How to protect yourself from harmful smoke

Medical professionals are urging residents to take precautions to protect their health as New Jersey experiences the worst air pollution in recent memory, following dozens of forest fires in Canada that sent heavy smoke to the region.

All people in the impacted areas are at risk of adverse health effects at the current air particle pollution levels, experts warn. That's particularly true for children, elderly adults and people with asthma and other lung and heart conditions, whose conditions can worsen under current air quality levels.

How to protect yourself from air pollution and poor air quality

The American Lung Association offers these four tips for people to avoid lung irritation and health complications due to increased air pollution:

1. Stay indoors. People living close to the fire-stricken areas should remain indoors and avoid breathing smoke, ashes and other pollution in the area.
2. Protect the air in your home. Keep doors, windows and fireplace dampers shut and preferably with clean air circulating through air conditioners on the recirculation setting.
3. Keep an eye on symptoms. Higher levels of smoke in some areas can make breathing more difficult. If you are experiencing symptoms, contact your health care provider.
4. Take precautions for kids. Extra precaution should be taken for children and teens, who are more susceptible to smoke. Their lungs are still developing, and they breathe in more air (and consequently more pollution) for their size than adults.

New Jersey air quality map:Stay informed on smoke conditions with NJ wildfire map

Khalil Savary, a pediatric pulmonologist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, also issued the following guidance:

• Close your windows and prevent external air from entering the house through vents and exhausts. If there is a period of improved air quality, open your windows to help clear particles which entered.
• Circulate air inside with fans or air conditioning that does not draw air from outside or draws outside air through a HEPA filter.
• Reduce indoor air quality hazards. Avoid smoking, non-electric stoves/furnaces, spray aerosol products, and vacuuming without a HEPA filter.
• If you must go outside, wear a fitted N95. Surgical masks, cloth masks and ill-fitting N95 masks are not effective protective equipment.
• Reduce activity outdoors.
• When in a car, keep vents and windows closed; use the recirculate feature.

The public can also follow Air Quality Index on EPA's AirNow.gov, which measures how healthy or unhealthy the air is. on a scale of 1 to 500. Wednesday's forecast of 175 for North and Central Jersey is considered "unhealthy," meaning a risk for everyone, while people with sensitivity may experience more serious respiratory effects.

Thursday's forecast of 125 indicates it will be "unhealthy for sensitive groups."

Due to climate change, experts warn that episodes of wildfire smoke air pollution are likely to increase in frequency, and that people should be prepared to take action to reduce risk for themselves and their families.

"This unusual situation results from a combination of wildfires in eastern Canada and a persistent weather pattern that is bringing the smoke from those fires south across our area," said Anthony J. Broccoli, an atmospheric scientist at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, in an email.

"There's another wave of heavier smoke that is just moving into northwestern New Jersey now and spreading south, southeastward. I expect that things in much of New Jersey will get worse before they get better."