Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke

Wildfire smoke contains particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), which penetrates the human vascular system. This increases the risk of strokes, ischemic heart disease and premature birth as well as COPD and asthma exacerbations. There are proven interventions that reduce the impact of this increasingly prevalent health risk, which are summarized in this toolkit.