Reduce health risks in areas with wildfire smoke. Especially if you have family members with heart or breathing problems, or are older adults, children, or pregnant women.

June 2018

Household use of portable air cleaners has increased in the face of recent wildland fire activity and in response to COVID-19. Some local agencies have begun recommending Do-It-Yourself (DIY) air cleaners (i.e., furnace air filter attached to electric box fans) during smoke events as DIYs offer an affordable and accessible alternative to commercially available air cleaners, which frequently sell out during smoke events. However, there are concerns regarding the safety of DIY air cleaners as these consumer fans are not being used as intended by the manufacturers and have not been evaluated by safety certification processes.

Masks and respiratory protective devices may protect the wearer to varying degrees from exposure to potentially infectious droplets, and these devices have varying degrees of protection. These devices can be classified into three categories: (1) respirators (e.g., those that are NIOSH-approved respirators or authorized for emergency use); (2) masks intended for medical purposes (e.g., FDA-cleared surgical masks including those labeled as procedure masks); and (3)masks intended for a non-medical purpose.

There is increased interest in the performance of respirators against fine particles such as nanoparticles (natural and engineered) and bioaerosol articles (e.g. viruses and bacteria). Although the effect of particle size on the performance of respirators has been studied in the laboratory using manikins, only a few studies have been conducted with human subjects.

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