Wildfire Smoke Resources
This email was originally sent to AFT affiliate leaders.
AFT Leaders,
The air quality on the East Coast is hazardous. The smoke blowing in from wildfires in Canada engulfed New York yesterday, and it looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. Throughout the East Coast, you can still see and smell the smoke. While this phenomenon isn’t unusual to our affiliates on the West Coast, it has led to a new awareness in the East.
We don’t know how long this will last or when the air quality will return to safe levels. As an asthmatic, I am particularly aware of the health effects this can pose for our students, patients, communities and members. So rather than just tweet or post on Facebook, I wanted to reach out and make sure you have our resources on the issues of air quality, smoke, smog and climate and what to do about them.
Throughout the course of the pandemic, we advocated for proper ventilation in our schools, hospitals and workplaces. The effects of these wildfires are yet another reason why that’s necessary. Please have your union check with your administration and make sure your building’s filters have been changed recently and all air purifiers are running. Be sure to let your members know that you are checking with management about this. Where there is central air conditioning, using a high-efficiency filter with a MERV rating of 13 or greater can filter a significant amount of fine particle pollution from the air. For places without central air conditioning, keep windows closed; close any fresh-air intakes on air conditioners, including in cars; and consider identifying a “clean room” in the home or workplace that has as little exposure to outside air as possible.
If you are outside, wearing high-quality masks, like those we used during the height of COVID-19, can help filter the air you breathe.
High-quality and well-fitting masks like N95 respirators are very effective at filtering fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke or other air pollution; they filter 95 percent of particulate matter from the air. KN95s are similar, but it is important to make sure the fit is snug and there aren’t leaks around the edges. Fortunately, we do not have a mask shortage, as we did in 2020 when the AFT had to buy masks for our members. If you have any questions about masks and smoke, please reach out to our health issues department at 4healthandsafety@aft.org.
I have been wearing an N95 for the last day or so outside, and it’s really helped me.
We know that many of our members work outside, especially our public employees. Here are essential resources for outdoor workers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
If you or someone in your home is feeling the impact of wildfire smoke, check out this guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency about how to create a “clean room” using common household items.
We know that the climate crisis is driving extreme events like this. The New York Times has good coverage of this today. We’ll continue to advocate for commonsense policies that address the climate crisis. We’ve also applied for a grant from the EPA that will help us train our members on how to deal with smoke from wildfires and how to establish clean rooms both at home and at work. If and when we have these trainings, we’ll be sure to let you know.
We also have free lesson plans and classroom resources from Share My Lesson on the climate crisis. If you’re looking for a way to talk about the underlying issues with students or families, these resources can help.
You should expect more of wildfire smoke in your future. Fire seasons are growing longer, and hotter temperatures zap fuels of their moisture faster. The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above-normal fire activity in parts of the Pacific Northwest, including eastern Oregon and central Washington, in July and August. Elsewhere in the West, forecasters are predicting normal or below-normal fire activity for those months. However, a lot depends on temperatures and how fast ground cover dries out, to make any real predications on what to expect this year.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
