Categories of Particulate Matter in Smoke from Wildfires

Description

The smoke generated by a wildfire may result in significant particulate matter in the air. This can significantly affect air quality and worsen visibility. Patients with certain risk factors should take precautions to avoid complications.

Procedure for determining visibility in smoke:

(1) Face away from the sun.

(2) Determine the nearest point where high contrast objects totally disappear.

(3) Estimate the distance to that point.

Visibility in Miles	Air Quality Category	Particular Levels in µg per cubic meter averaged over 1 hour
>= 10 miles	good	0 - 40
6 to 9 miles	moderate	41 - 80
3 to 5 miles	unhealthy for at risk patients	81 - 175
1.5 to 2.9 miles	unhealthy	176 - 300
0.76 to 1.4 miles	very unhealthy	301 - 500
0.75 miles or less	hazardous	> 500

Patients at risk:

(1) very young

(2) very old

(3) patients with heart or lung disease

Category	Health Effect if At Risk Patients	Recommendation
good	none	none
moderate	mild risk (may aggravate some symptoms)	pay attention to symptoms
unhealthy at risk	moderate risk	limit prolonged outdoor exertion and stay indoors when possible
unhealthy	serious risk	avoid prolonged exertion and stay indoors when possible
very unhealthy	very serious risk	avoid any outdoor activity and stay indoors
hazardous	extreme risk	avoid any exertion and remain indoors

Category	Health Effect for Healthy Population	Recommendation
good	none	none
moderate	none	none
unhealthy at risk	minimal risk (some may have symptoms)	pay attention to symptoms
unhealthy	mild risk	limit prolonged outdoor exertion
very unhealthy	moderate risk	avoid any outdoor exertion
hazardous	serious risk	avoid any exertion and remain indoors

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Description

Specialty

ICD-10