Missoula Health Dept. suggests tips in smoky weather – NBC Montana

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Missoula Health Dept. suggests tips in smoky weather – NBC Montana

MISSOULA, Mont. –

The Missoula City-County Health Department says, as of Thursday afternoon, the smoke has become worse. It smells like a campfire outside and new smoke continues to flow in from fires in Idaho.

The smoke has been lingering in the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys for about three weeks.

“Everyone needs to be monitoring their activity,” said air quality specialist Sarah Coefield.

That means being careful about being outside, exercising or any exposure to the smoke. Health officials say it is best to stay indoors as much as possible.

The residual smoke is making people feel like they are under the weather. But the health department has some suggestions on how you can limit your exposure.

First, keep your windows at your house shut.

“We haven’t seen those high temperature extremes. It’s probably best to keep those windows closed as much as you can and still be safe without over-exposing the heat,” said Coefield.

If it’s too hot, it’s better to open the windows than overheat, but it’s ideal to keep them shut.

Another thing to limit is exercising outside. Running outdoors can cause more harm than good in smoky conditions.

“Breathing through your mouth so you lose the natural filtration you get from your nose. You’re breathing more heavily, your exerting yourself, so you’re sucking in a lot of extra air, so that’s sending all of that pollution into your lungs,” said Coefield.

The bottom line is the more you expose yourself to the smoke, the worse it will be for your health.

The health department also suggests limiting the amount of time you let your animals outside, as the smoke isn’t healthy for them either.

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