Protect Your Health From Wildfires
Sunset in the Pacific Palisades, Nov 2022
If you know me, you know: half my heart lives in LA.
Like everyone else, I’ve looked on with heartbreak and disbelief as family and friends deal with evacuations, displacement, and a few have even lost their homes and everything in it to the fires in Los Angeles county, Pasadena and Altadena. As horrifying as all of this is, I’m also worried about the short-term and long-term health consequences of being exposed to the toxic soup of chemicals in the air during urban wildfires.
I see people, including little kids, on TV wearing surgical masks that I know do nothing to protect them from these chemicals. I spent the day trying to convince older family members to get out of town, so they can limit their exposure to the acrid air in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. What they might not realize - what I am painfully aware of - is that these gasses, particulate and chemicals pose serious health hazards, even when you can’t smell it anymore and the worst of the black smoke has cleared.
Some health consequences are obvious, and some not so obvious. The more obvious short-term symptoms are things like sore throats, coughing, irritated eyes, asthma, bronchitis, headaches and migraines, and even dizziness. But these chemicals, especially smaller particulate matter like PM2.5, can get deep into the lungs and into the blood stream where they increase the risk for heart attacks and respiratory diseases, and worsen the effects of existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. And of course, because there’s a tremendous increase in toxic burden, there’s also an increased risk for all types of cancer down the road.
Watching the destruction of these places I know and love had me feeling so helpless, wishing I could do more for the people I love who are struggling. So I developed this guide for them - and for you - to help people protect their health by supporting their body’s detoxification systems and helping the body buffer and balance inflammation that results from toxin exposures like the ones in urban wildfire smoke. Please share this guide with anyone who you think could benefit.
As always, please consult your health provider before you start any supplements, especially if you take prescription medications, have multiple diagnoses, or are pregnant or breastfeeding. Please also note the supplement protocol is intended for healthy adults to take for about a month or two - always talk to your medical provider first!
Big love to everyone in SoCal. My heart is with you.
References:
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403960121
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100110
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131779
PS: If you’d like to donate to specific people in need who have lost their homes, please consider these two families:
Help Leah and her family rebuild after cancer and fire loss: Leah is a long-time family friend who recently beat cancer (yay!), and then lost her entire home and everything she owns in the Eaton Fire, as did her teenage son and 81-year young mother. Please consider supporting them.
Support the Ray Family: Sarah Ray is a teacher and single mom to four children, after losing her husband to cancer in 2022. Her family’s home was completely lost in the Eaton Fire. She is a dear friend of my cousin.