PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection upgraded the air quality forecast to a code red Wednesday morning as hazardous smoke from the ongoing wildfires in Eastern Canada lingered in the area.
The DEP extended the air quality alert to all counties across the Commonwealth.
Environmental experts say the unhealthy air quality levels have not been this high in two decades.
"This is an abnormal pattern," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Jonathan Guseman. "It's been 20 or so years since we've seen air quality issues like this from fires in Eastern Canada."
Under the DEP's code red classification, the air quality has reached unhealthy levels for not only sensitive groups such as children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems, but also for the general public who expose themselves to the polluted air.
The code red category is the 3rd highest on the DEP's air quality classification.
“Even short-term exposure causes people to have angina and heart attacks," said Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health with the American Lung Association. "When we’re having prolonged periods of exposure in the outdoors for extended periods of time then they are more likely to have those episodes.”
Smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada is the main driver of the poor air quality, causing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter to enter the region that experts say is even more toxic.
“People are dying as a result of fine particle pollution," said Stewart. "We know that wood smoke, which is this primary component of air pollution right now from this event, has more hazards in general than regular air pollution.”
The National Weather Service says the ongoing drought conditions in the area along with wind patterns have allowed the air conditions to reach the code-red level.
“It kind of plays hand in hand [where] the pattern of northerly flow in the upper atmosphere is helping exacerbate the dry conditions, across eastern portions of North America," said Guseman.
Experts urge people to stay indoors until the conditions improve.
"Even healthy adults, shouldn’t really be outside doing serious activity," said Stewart. "They should be indoors like everyone else, protecting themselves and their families from this air pollution event."
They also suggest setting home air conditioner units on the air recirculation setting and keeping a close eye on symptoms.
If you are experiencing symptoms contact your healthcare provider or reach out to the American Lung Association's helpline at 1-800-LUNGUSA for support.
For the latest air quality status in your area head to AirNow's website.