Academic experts available to provide context or comment on the following topic:
Wildfire Smoke Health Impacts
Wildfire Smoke Health Impacts
Members of the media may directly contact:
Dr. Shawn Aaron (English only)
Full Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine - Respiratory Medicine, Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Aaron can give advice on how to prevent damage to the lungs during poor air quality days.
“From my perspective wildfire smoke is responsible for elevated PM 2.5 concentrations in ambient air, and this increases the risk of asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) worsening and also increases risk for heart attacks and strokes in those people who have pre-existing cardiovascular disease.”