How to Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke

How to Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke

Wildfires are on the rise and, with them, the dangers of toxic smoke exposure. Here's what you need to know.

By Jill Patton, NBC-HWC | Experience LifeJuly 16, 2026

Hundreds of miles from the wildfires that raged across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Kelly Whitaker lay in her bed in suburban Minneapolis suffering a weeklong ­migraine attack. She'd experienced air quality-triggered symptoms ­before, but this was extraordinary.

Massive plumes of smoke, hitchhiking on high-altitude winds and the jet stream, spread across North America during the summer of 2025 - Canada's second-worst wildfire season on record. Tendrils reached as far south as Florida and as far east as Europe. The smoke that settled over Minneapolis that summer earned the city an unenviable position at the top of lists ranking the most polluted air in the world.

"If I ever have migraines again like I did that week, I will absolutely go to the emergency room," says Whitaker. "They were ­completely ­debilitating."

An Increasing Threat

The number and intensity of wildfires - and the toxic emissions they produce - are increasing. A 2024 paper in Nature Ecology and Evolution reported that the most extreme fire events more than doubled in frequency over the previous 21 years.

Also in 2024, an article in the journal Science revealed that carbon-dioxide emissions from ­forest fires increased globally by 60 percent since 2001. Fire-fueled emissions nearly tripled in some northern boreal forests due in large part to a rise in condi­tions caused by climate change, including more arid soil and more flammable vegetation.

Carbon dioxide isn't the only noxious gas that wildfires emit: The smoke contains carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and other toxic gases. Once these gases enter the atmosphere, they transform chemically and produce secondary pollutants, including ground-level ozone.

Even when fires are hundreds or thousands of miles away, smoke can trigger headaches, dizziness, and nausea in some people.

Wildfire smoke also carries particulate matter - a mixture of solid and liquid droplets suspended in the air - composed of whatever is burning. Incompletely combusted plants, trees, grasses, and other organic matter generate chemicals called poly­cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are often carcinogenic.

In addition, pollen, mold spores , dust, and ash are pulled into the air by the intense heat and wind. In ­inhabited areas, fires produce particulate matter that may include heavy metals, rubber, plastic, and other hazardous substances.

Particulate matter in wildfire smoke ranges in size from microscopic to visible (think dust motes). Ultrafine particles, known as PM_0.1, measure less than 0.1 micrometers in diameter; fine particles, or PM_2.5, are as large as 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These particulates are easily inhaled deep into the lungs, where they can make their way into the bloodstream.

Smoke and Your Health

Short-term smoky air causes coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath, as well as burning, itchy eyes and throats. Even when fires are hundreds or thousands of miles away, smoke can trigger headaches, dizziness , and nausea in some people. And it can worsen symptoms for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive ­pulmonary disease.

Just a few days' exposure to wildfire smoke has been linked to higher rates of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, particularly among older adults and people with cardiovascular disease.

If you're pregnant, wildfire-smoke exposure can increase your risk of premature delivery and a low birthweight. Children are especially vulnerable because wildfire smoke can damage still-developing lungs, and because kids also tend to be more active outdoors and proportionally take in more air for their body size.

We're just beginning to understand some of the long-term health effects of wildfire smoke, as well as the mechanisms by which smoke causes damage to the body.

Experts say we're just beginning to understand some of the long-term health effects of wildfire smoke, as well as the mechanisms by which smoke causes damage to the body. We do know that smoke exposure accumulates, increasing lifetime cancer risk and causing lasting damage to the heart, lungs, and other organs.

Our brains take a hit as well. Neurotoxic and inflammatory substances in PM_2.5 and PM _0.1 are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier , and there is a strong link between air pollution and Alzheimer's disease. A 2023 study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, demonstrated that higher residential levels of fine-particulate matter - especially from agriculture and wildfires - are associated with higher rates of dementia.

Further, with the increase in large, high-intensity fires, wildfire smoke is no longer just a local or regional concern; its scope can now reach and affect the health of millions of people.

"The plumes in these big wildfires punch into the stratosphere where the winds are really high and the smoke can be taken thousands of miles," says Marshall Burke, PhD, a professor at the Doerr School of ­Sustainability at Stanford University. "It used to be very rare that places like Minneapolis or cities on the East Coast would get smoke days at all, but now you're getting weeks at very high double-digit levels of PM, which is a really high exposure."

In 2025, Burke and his colleagues published a paper that projected, based on statistical and machine-learning models, that climate change-related increases in wildfire smoke PM_2.5 could result in more than 71,000 excess deaths per year by 2050.

7 Ways to Protect Yourself From Wildfire Smoke

Even if you don't fit the profile of the sensitive groups mentioned in air-quality index (AQI) alerts, don't presume you are immune to the effects of wildfire smoke.

" The truth about pollution is that there are no thresholds," says researcher Marshall Burke, PhD, a professor at the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford. "There's no level below which you are safe and above which you are in trouble. Even really small increases in pollution lead to measurable increases in emergency-room visits and measurable increases in mortality."

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not affecting you."

Many people dismiss the risks if they don't feel symptomatic, says Kelly McCann, MD, a functional-medicine practitioner in Southern California. " Prevention is key, " she explains. "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not affecting you."

If wildfire smoke makes its way to your area - whether the fire is local or blowing in from far away - take these precautions to protect your health.

1. Stay indoors when you can. Keep your windows and doors closed, and seal any leaks. Run an air conditioner if you have one, and make sure the fresh-air intake is closed and set on recirculate. Don't run bathroom or kitchen fans that pull air in from outside.

2. Monitor indoor air. For those in areas where pollution and wildfire smoke are a frequent threat, ­McCann recommends investing in an indoor air-quality monitor, such as the AirKnight 9-In-1, which provides information on several measures of air pollution inside your home, including PM_2.5.

3. Purify indoor air. Air purifiers with HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters can significantly reduce your exposure to fine-particulate matter. Making a DIY air cleaner with a box fan and a MERV 13 air filter (look for instructions at www.epa.gov) is a cost-effective way to remove fine particulates.

McCann says that running an air purifier in your bedroom around the clock during bad-air days is a "nonnegotiable" protective measure. "You need a sleep sanctuary," she adds. "Sleep is where everything gets restored." (See " 11 Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality" for more.)

4. Monitor outdoor air. In addition to referencing local air-quality alerts from a weather app, you can get hyperlocal - often block-by-block - data from PurpleAir, a crowdsourced air-quality monitoring network composed of lower-cost devices that upload real-time air quality data to the cloud.

For those on the move, McCann recommends the Atmotube PRO, a compact device that senses and reports air quality via your phone wherever you are.

5. Mask up. If you must go outside when the air is bad, wear a well-fitting N95, KN95, or P100 mask. Dust, cloth, and surgical masks do not filter out the fine particulates in smoke.

6. Avoid or limit outdoor activities. This applies to you, your kids, and your pets. Take your workouts indoors, and if you must be outdoors for your job, wear an approved mask and take breaks in clean-air spaces. (For exercise options when wildfire smoke is bad, check out " Is It Safe to Exercise Outdoors When the Air Quality Is Bad?")

7. Support your body's detoxification. When you encounter toxins in wildfire smoke, your body's immune and detox systems ramp up activity, producing reactive oxygen molecules as a byproduct, explains McCann. She recommends boosting your body's antioxidant capacity with N-acetylcysteine, glutathione, and vitamin C. While you can't supplement your way out of wildfire smoke exposure, "every little bit helps," she says. ( Discover " How to Optimize Your Lungs' Natural Detoxification Process.")

By Jill Patton, NBC-HWC

Jill Patton, NBC-HWC, is an Experience Life contributing editor and a national board-certified health and wellness coach.