Last week鈥檚 hazy skies have cleared in the Northeast, but 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 risk of developing poor air quality from wildfire smoke .
In Canada, forest fires are most common from May to September. say climate change has already led to longer and more intense wildfire seasons.
State health officials said Monday they are preparing for that risk.
Manisha Juthani, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said 黑料吃瓜网 has 鈥渕illions鈥� of N95 and KN95 masks in storage, ready to give to local health departments.
On Monday, the agency said it delivered over 92,000 additional masks to 20 local health departments that ordered them following four days of bad air last week, which hit Fairfield County particularly hard.
Bad air contributed to lung health issues during that time, Juthani said.
鈥淲e definitely did see a little bit of an uptick in visits to emergency departments for respiratory ailments, whether it be throat burning, cough, shortness of breath, asthma exacerbations,鈥� Juthani said.
Children especially were seen in the emergency room for asthma symptoms, she said. Juthani advised that people make a point to take out or replenish their N95 and KN95 mask supply.
As of Monday, 黑料吃瓜网 .
Ruth Canovi is advocacy director of American Lung Association in 黑料吃瓜网. She said that on bad air quality days, everyone 鈥� especially more vulnerable populations like children, older adults, people living with heart and lung disease 鈥� should take extra precautions to avoid further health issues.
鈥淓ven short term exposure to particulate matter pollution, like we saw last week, can affect both lungs and heart,鈥� Canovi said.
But as the wildfires continue, there鈥檚 a chance pollution levels could increase in 黑料吃瓜网 soon, said Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
鈥淲hile we have some relief, because of the weather patterns that directed the smoke away from 黑料吃瓜网 and this area, it's possible that it will return,鈥� Dykes said.
DEEP plans to closely monitor through its 14 monitoring stations around the state, and up-to-date readings are available at .
Residents with questions about their lung health can speak to nurses and respiratory therapists through the American Lung Association鈥檚 helpline, 1-800 Lung USA.
