Grey haze in Sonoma raises health concerns

Sonoma air quality score bounces from ‘unhealthy’ to ‘very unhealthy’|

Smoke from the deadly wildfire in Paradise has blanketed Sonoma in a thick haze for days. Local air quality, measured on a scale that runs from zero to 500 and calibrated daily on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index (AQI), has been deemed 'unhealthy' or 'very unhealthy' since Nov. 8.

On Wednesday, Nov. 7, Sonoma's AQI score was 22. By Friday, Nov. 9, one day after the Camp Fire leveled some 7,500 structures and killed 56 people in Butte County, Sonoma's AQI was 287.

That number triggered a decision from the Sonoma Valley Unified School District to close schools last Friday, a choice they informed stakeholders of in a series of robocalls Thursday night.

In the days since, the city's AQI score has toggled between 296 (very unhealthy) and 153 (unhealthy), a fact to which locals with burning eyes and sore throats could attest. One doesn't have to be a scientist to conclude that the smoky skies overhead are unhealthy. Time spent outdoors in recent days was its own proof.

Itchy eyes. Raw, inflamed throats. Persistent coughing. Steady headaches. The collateral damage of wildfires to humans is significant.

According to consensus within the medical community, haze heavy enough to obscure distant vistas is a serious risk to human respiration. Very small airborne particles known as particulate matter are aspirated on every inhale. Once lodged in the lungs, particulate matter isn't easily dislodged.

Composed of a mixture of microscopic solids and liquid droplets, particulate matter includes acids, organic chemicals, metals, soils and dust particles, and fragments of pollen or mold spores. The smaller the particle, the more dangerous its effect on human lungs.

Pulmonary function in children can be especially compromised by bad air. Compared to adults, children draw in more oxygen relative to body mass when they breathe. Doctors recommend that infants under age 1 be kept indoors when the AQI is over 101, or the 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' category.

The tiniest particles are a fraction of the width of a human hair, and can be inhaled deeply into the respiratory system. From there, the particles travel into the very narrowest passages. Physicians now believe they can even migrate into the blood, allowing the toxic particles transit to every part of the body.

Long-term exposure to bad air increases the risk of impaired heart function and development of lung diseases like COPD and asthma. It also accelerates atherosclerosis, or the narrowing and hardening of arteries responsible for most heart attacks and strokes. Long-term exposure is generally defined in terms of years, though regular, repeated exposure to dirty air, like during California's extended fire season, can have a cumulative effect, too.

Which is why Sonoma Valley Unified canceled classes last Friday, as well as all sporting events over the weekend. On Tuesday, in response to Monday night's AQI score of 287, Sonoma public schools were closed once again. However, Presentation and Justin Siena chose to remain open, even though at Presentation, they were changing the HVAC filters and there was no heat.

'They couldn't turn the heaters on because they pull the air in from outside,' Giselle Perez, an eighth grader at Presentation, reported. 'We froze all day long.'

By late Tuesday, the Sonoma County Office of Education had crafted a policy whereby the air quality management website PurpleAir.com would be relied on to report AQI scores, and the threshold to warrant school cancellation was set at 275, or 25 points below the index's most severe rating of 'hazardous.'

But some parents of children within the district were alarmed by the high threshold, and the arbitrary-seeming nature of its selection.

'Did they consult a pulmonary specialist? Did they consult a medical board?' wondered Stacie Elkhoury, whose four children, ages 5 to 11, attend Prestwood Elementary and Altimira Middle School.

Elkhoury said she would never send her children to school on a day where the AQI was 275.

'Oh, my gosh, no! We all remember what it felt like to walk outside last year during our fires, and kids are even more vulnerable,' said Elkhoury. 'We would never give our kids a pack of cigarettes to smoke, and yet we want to send them off to school in these conditions? There are no studies about how this will affect our children in 20 years, unfortunately. Maybe our kids are going to be those studies.'

But Jamie Hansen, director of communications at the Office of Education, defended the science behind the new county policy. 'The guidelines were established in consultation with Sonoma County's public health official and a guidance document created by the CDC and EPA,' she said.

Bruce Abbott, associate superintendent of business services for SVUSD, agreed. 'The number was based on the recommendations of health professionals. And when you read the fine print (about air quality health warnings) it's really more about what you're doing than where.'

Purple Air uses physical sensors installed by individuals to calculate a given city's AQI in real time. Other air quality watchdogs combine a region's numbers to determine an average, producing data that is more general than specific, and commonly delayed by an hour or more. According to its website, Purple Air has a sensor near the intersection of Napa Road and Fifth Street East in Sonoma. There are no sensors reporting data from Glen Ellen or Kenwood.

Compromised physical health was the primary concern of most people this week, and is perhaps more easily observed than the veiled mysteries of a traumatized psyche, but the smoky skies overhead appeared to compromise more than lung function; they triggered mental health crises for residents, too.

'It's really emotional for me,' Elkhoury said. 'It's overwhelming. But at the end of the day, you just have to make a judgement call for your kids.'

Holly Seaton, a local licensed marriage and family therapist, reported that many of her clients were feeling re-traumatized. 'Sonoma is going through collective post-traumatic stress,' Seaton said. 'I have absolutely had clients report feeling triggered. With all these fires we've entered into a new area, we've moved into a new category of chronically heightened awareness. But the fires also create opportunities for growth, for people to say 'what can I live without?' Identifying what's most precious to us gives us perspective on the rest. Inside every trauma there are hidden gifts. Being able to individually discover what's really important is the opportunity these fires allow.'

Email Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com.

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