A lung doctor explains how dips in air quality affect the body

Typically during the summer, hot temperatures and dry air lead to the perfect conditions for wildfires, spurring air quality alerts from smoke. But those exact conditions can also exacerbate ground-level ozone, one of the main pollutants in smog.

Dr. Andrew Stiehm is a pulmonologist with Twin Cities-based Allina Health and he said the body reacts to ozone and wildfire smoke in very similar ways.

“In the lungs — they get inflamed, they can create the cough, they can spasm the airways, they can make it difficult to breathe.” he said.

But Stiehm added that it can change from individual and activity level. With something like ozone or smog, Stiehm said there’s a certain quantity of air to pollutant to breath activity that affects the lungs.

“Some of our kids at camps or doing athletics outside, they're breathing deeper, they're breathing more often, they're breathing heavier, so they're getting a higher dose of it because of those athletics,” he said.

In severe cases, some children will need a doctor’s attention. However, Stiehm said that returning inside, away from the irritant combined with shallow breaths could resolve any issues.

Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.

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