Wildfires and Bushfires

 

 

Wildfires can cause serious indoor pollution

A wildfire is a large fire that spreads very quickly through a natural area such as forest or grassland and is difficult to contain. In many parts of the world, particularly Australia and parts of Africa, an uncontrolled bushfire is a fire that spreads through large areas of scrubland. Sometimes, for example in Australia, bushfires are ‘controlled’ in that they are used to diminish the ‘fuel load’ and thus reduce the future potential severity of uncontrolled fires.

Below we will use the term wildfire to refer to both controlled and uncontrolled wildfires and bushfires.

Such fires create vast amounts of airborne pollution, and the composition and concentration of such pollution can vary significantly depending on factors such as the type of vegetation burning, weather conditions, the stage of the fire and the distance away from the fire. Pollutants from wildfires can linger in the atmosphere for weeks, travelling thousands of miles and harming the health of populations living far away.

Within the area effected by such pollution, indoor air will also become polluted as natural building ventilation involves the relatively frequent replacement of indoor air by outdoor air.

Wildfire pollutants

Wildfires can release a variety of pollutants into the air, including:

• Particulate Matter (PM): Wildfires produce significant amounts of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 and PM10. These particles are tiny enough to be inhaled deep into the respiratory system and can cause respiratory problems, aggravate existing conditions, and reduce air quality.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO): Incomplete combustion during wildfires releases carbon monoxide, a colourless and odourless gas. High levels of CO can be harmful, leading to dizziness, headaches, and even death in extreme cases.
• Nitrogen Oxides (NOx): Wildfires generate nitrogen oxides, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric oxide (NO). These gases contribute to the formation of ozone and smog, and they can cause respiratory issues and other health problems.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): VOCs are released during the combustion of vegetation and other organic materials. They include various chemicals such as benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene. VOCs can have both short-term and long-term health effects, including respiratory irritation, headaches, and potential carcinogenic properties.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): PAHs are toxic organic compounds that are released during the incomplete combustion of organic matter. They are known to have carcinogenic properties and can persist in the environment for an extended period.

Wildfire smoke can make anyone sick, but people with asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), or heart disease, or who are pregnant, or children are especially at risk.

Breathing in smoke can affect you immediately, causing:

Coughing Trouble breathing Wheezing Asthma attacks

Stinging eyes  Scratchy throat Runny nose Irritated sinuses

Headaches  Tiredness Chest pain Fast heartbeat

How can Airora help?

Outdoors, wildfire pollution is naturally removed over time from the atmosphere through multiple physical and chemical processes that include:

• Dispersion and dilution.
• Precipitation and settling onto surfaces.
• Chemical breakdown, reactions including those initiated by atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (hydroxyls).

Hydroxyls, known as ‘Natures Detergent’, are naturally abundant in our outdoor environment but mostly absent indoors.

Clearly, bringing the wind and the rain indoors is not a practical solution to improve indoor air quality and traditional portable air cleaners only have a modest impact on particulate concentrations and don’t impact at all on the potentially harmful chemicals and gasses created by wildfires.

However, help is at hand, as Airora’s indoor hydroxyl technology can both:  

• Accelerate the clumping and settlement of wildfire particulates that find their way into our indoor environments.
• Initiate the removal of most types of harmful wildfire chemicals and gasses.

Airora creates an abundance of hydroxyls throughout your indoor space. While hydroxyls are entirely safe for living things, they are highly effective at oxidising most wildfire pollutants.

• Particulate Matter (PM): Airora’s ioniser gives particulates an electric charge, causing them to clump together and to adhere to surfaces such as walls, thereby taking them out of the air that you breathe. 

Hydroxyls are highly reactive, rapidly oxidising potentially harmful compounds on the surface of particulate matter, such as VOCs and PAHs.

Depending on the type of vegetation being burned, about a half of the resultant particulates are particle-phase organic carbon. The amount of particle-phase carbon decreases with oxidation by hydroxyls which creates volatile products that escape to the gas-phase.

• Carbon Monoxide (CO): The reaction rate between hydroxyls and carbon monoxide is relatively fast, converting carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, which has a far lower impact on air quality.
• Nitrogen Oxides (NOx): Hydroxyls initiate a reduction in wildfire NOx levels, ultimately leading to an improvement in air quality.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): The reactions between hydroxyls and VOCs are an important mechanism for the removal and degradation of VOCs,  leading to an improvement in air quality.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): Hydroxyls participate in the destruction of PAHs in the atmosphere through a series of chemical reactions.

In some cases, the hydroxylated PAHs can be further oxidised by other atmospheric oxidants, such as ozone, which Airora also creates, resulting in the formation of less toxic products and an improvement in indoor air quality.

Positive results

Only those who have experienced the ingress of wildfire pollution indoors can appreciate just how unpleasant and potentially harmful it can be.

There is no technology that can, in practice, completely isolate your indoor air from outdoor wildfire pollution, and traditional air cleaners can only provide very limited benefit.

However, Airora’s unique indoor hydroxyl technology has the potential to greatly improve occupant comfort and safety.

As one Australian family, with a daughter who suffers from Asthma told us, ‘Airora has been a life saver’ during the annual controlled bushfires near to their home.

But this is only one benefit of Airora amongst many; Airora also protects you from infection by rapidly removing all types of harmful viruses (including coronavirus), bacteria and moulds from indoor air and surfaces, and by neutralising all air and surface borne allergens so that you no longer react to them.

 

You can find out all about Airora at airora.com

And contact us at support@airora.com