On Smoke (from Dr. Louise Tolzmann, Trinity Episcopal Church )

Smoke is not just particles, it is all the substances that are burning: gases, plastics, pesticides, toxic metals, and flame retardants. These get attached to the particles & we breathe them in. We also absorb them through our skin (even firefighters on oxygen have elevated levels of benzenes). And we ingest them.

The particles they are measuring as part of air pollution is PM 2.5 – which is just the size (2.5 micrometers). The smaller particles – PM 0.1 are much more toxic. They aren’t being measured & often the PM 2.5 is made up of 0.1 glommed together. In any case these small particles are dangerous because they don’t stay in your lungs; they go straight into your blood stream & straight into organs like your brain & your heart.

What you can do: Try to reduce your exposure to smoke! Don’t go outside. Don’t exercise. Close your windows & doors. Wear as much of a mask as you have – N100 or N95 or your homemade ones – maybe doubled or tripled.

If you have air filters & you forgot to turn them on – do so. If you have a way to circulate air in your house through a filter – like an HVAC system – do that. If you can – double up on your filter in the unit or change it frequently. And if you do have a way to circulate & filter – then seal your house up – use tape on windows or doors that are leaky. Close your chimney flue. Reduce the dust inside – wipe down surfaces, vacuum. The particles that have come in are carrying all the toxic things – try not to have them move around every time you move around & rebreathe them.

Supplements:

1) B complex vitamins: They did a study where they stuck people into a pollution chamber (literally) for 2 hours after they had been on placebo or B vitamin for a month – and the B vitamins protected & reversed the DNA damage from the pollution!

2) Fish oil: Heart attacks go up after smoke exposures. Your entire body is getting inflamed from this – especially your brain. Take your fish oil.

3) N-Acetyl Cysteine: 500 mg 3-4x per day. Major support for detox pathways in your body.

4) Glutathione: You probably don’t have this – but if you do & you forgot to take it – do it now.  And then take some Vitamin C to help you recycle your glutathione.

5) Green Tea! Start drinking it. Super anti-oxidant – helps so many chemicals get cleared.

6) Brassica Veggies: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower: all super important helpers for you to clear the toxins you are being exposed to.

Any other anti-inflammatory supplements you happen to have around – turmeric, vitamin C, vitamin D, elderberry. Your body is working really, really hard to clear the smoke. Give it a little help.