Let's Talk About It with Jenny White/How Bad is Wildfire Smoke for your health?

It hasn't been that long since the threat of COVID-19 drove people outdoors to avoid infection. Now, people living in the Northeast and Midwest are encouraged to do the opposite as wildfire smoke from Canada creates poor air quality hundreds of miles from the flames. Stay inside. Wear masks. Get an air purifier. The advice from public health and medical experts has been consistent. And as with the COVID-19 variants that caused surges followed by periods of relative calm, air quality has gone back and forth between healthy and unhealthy levels.

As long as there are wildfires, experts expect these shifts in air quality to continue. Below, Yale Medicine's Carrie Redlich, MD, MPH, who is trained in internal medicine, pulmonology, and occupational and environmental medicine, discusses air quality and how we can stay safe.