Last month’s wildfire smoke plume in New York, New Jersey comparable to secondhand smoking

The public health impact of the Canadian wildfire smoke plume that smothered the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area earlier this summer was comparable to second-hand cigarette smoke, according to new research led by Rutgers University. 

“The wildfires in Canada gave us a sobering demonstration of the climate change impacts on air quality,” said Memo Cedeño Laurent, assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and director of the Rutgers Climate Adaptive and Restorative Environments Lab in a statement about the research findings.

The research was conducted by faculty, post-docs and students, according to a statement about the findings, in collaboration with other academic institutions including Harvard Medical School and the University of South Carolina.

Researchers collected and analyzed particle-sized samples during the peak of smoke accumulation over the city in early June. Real-time measurements were taken to monitor the fluctuating levels of air pollutants, the statement says.

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