GREENSBORO, N.C. — Just a few weeks ago, we were more worried about the smoke from the Canadian wildfires than we were about the summer storm.
The fires prompted air quality advisories all over the eastern U.S. Our skies looked weird, and experts warned about the harm the wildfires could do to our lungs.
"Microscopic particles in smoke are linked to asthma, coughing, difficulty breathing, even non-fatal heart attacks," said Kaveh Waddell, Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports looked at the different alerts available to you. You can get air-quality alerts from your public health department website and you can go a step further and get your area's current air quality ratings and future air quality forecast emailed to you. In NC it’s called EnviroFlash.
There are other air quality apps as well: IQair, Plumelabs, and Purpleair, all of these monitor air quality index values.
Consumer Reports warns during those smoky days you need to stay away from laundry and bathrooms that have ducts open to the outside because the smoke gets in that way.
“Look for an air purifier with a HEPA filter to get smoke out of your home. A carbon filter will help to get the smell of smoke out too," said Waddell.
To evaluate air purifiers, consumer reports testers inject smoke particles into a sealed room and use a counter to measure the number and size of the particles.
Top in consumer reports' tests for dealing with smoke are:
Alen Breathesmart 75i Pure ($750)
Blueair Blue Pure 211+ Max ($350)
2WTK also found a smaller-sized purifier for a bedroom or a baby’s room, Blueair Room Purifier ($139)