{"id":477988,"date":"2024-01-05T07:01:56","date_gmt":"2024-01-05T12:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/cleaning-toxins-from-your-home-after-a-wildfire-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews\/"},"modified":"2024-01-06T05:58:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T10:58:02","slug":"cleaning-toxins-from-your-home-after-a-wildfire-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/cleaning-toxins-from-your-home-after-a-wildfire-experts-offer-tips-drugs-com-mednews\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleaning Toxins From Your Home After a Wildfire: Experts Offer Tips – Drugs.com MedNews","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm<\/a>. Last updated on Jan 5, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter<\/p>\n

FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2023 — It\u2019s easy to see the immediate health hazards of wildfire smoke, as people struggle to breathe through a sooty haze.<\/p>\n

But a new study finds that harmful chemicals found in wildfire smoke can linger in a person\u2019s home for weeks after the immediate threat has passed, posing a continuing health threat.<\/p>\n

The chemicals — compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) — are highly toxic and can be found in household air filters, glass surfaces and cotton cloth more than a month later, researchers report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are associated with a wide variety of long-term adverse health consequences like cancer, potential complications in pregnancy and lung disease,\u201d said researcher Elliott Gall<\/a>, an associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering at Portland State University in Oregon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf these compounds are depositing or sticking onto surfaces, there are different routes of exposure people should be aware of,\u201d Gall added in a university news release.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots of good advice out there on what to do during a wildfire, researchers noted — close windows and doors, run an air purifier, wear a mask.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s not much to guide people on how to best clean up afterward, researchers said.<\/p>\n

For this study, Gall and his team looked at how PAHs stuck to glass, cotton and air filters during a four-month span.<\/p>\n

They found it took 37 days for PAHs to decrease by 74% for air filters, 81% for cotton and 88% for glass — potentially harming the health of a home\u2019s inhabitants by prolonging their exposure to the chemicals.<\/p>\n

However, targeted cleaning proved effective in quickly ridding a home of PAHs that linger long after a wildfire has passed, the researchers said.<\/p>\n

Laundering cotton materials just once after smoke exposure lowered PAHs by 80%, and using commercial glass cleaners on windows or cups reduced PAH levels between 60% and 70%.<\/p>\n

Air filters should simply be replaced, since they can\u2019t be cleaned, Gall added.<\/p>\n

Future studies will focus on other materials and surfaces common in homes, as well as specific cleaning techniques and household cleaning solutions available to average folks, researchers said.<\/p>\n

The findings were published recently in the journal ACS ES&T Engineering<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n