Wildfire Smoke Is Poisoning California's Kids. Some Pay a Higher Price.

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FRESNO, Calif. -- The fires sweeping across millions of acres in California aren't just incinerating trees and houses. They're also filling the lungs of California's children with smoke, with potentially grave effects over the course of their lives.The effect is not evenly felt. While California as a whole has seen a steady uptick in smoke days in recent years, counties in the state's Central Valley, which is already cursed with some of the most polluted air, were particularly hard-hit by wildfire smoke this year.So for a child, it matters where you live. It matters how much foul air you breathe in on days when there are no fires at all. It matters whether your family can afford an air purifier at home or whether they can whisk you away when ash rains down from the sky.Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York TimesDr. Kari Nadeau, a professor of medicine at Stanford who specializes in pediatric allergies and asthma, said she worried that the damage to children might last a very long time. It is well-established that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter pollution, the kind that comes out of the tailpipes of cars and trucks, increases the risk of asthma in children and compromises their immune systems.Her latest research suggests that exposure to wildfire smoke, which contains the same particulate pollution and more, is associated with genetic changes in children's immune cells. 'It could,' she said, 'have irreversible consequences.'Already, an estimated 7.6 million children are exposed to wildfire smoke every year in the United States, and with climate change making the American West hotter and drier, many more children stand to be at risk.'This is a problem that's not going to go away,' Nadeau said. 'We are going to see these very extreme weather conditions, and we should be prepared.'Fresno, Central Valley 'An impending sense of doom.' -- Patricio Gonzalez, 12Patricio, a seventh grader, lives with his parents and his two younger siblings in a n

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Patricio Gonzalez, 12, foreground, and his family ride bikes near their home in Fresno, Calif., where smoke from the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest has been problem for air quality, on Oct. 22, 2020.

Her latest research suggests that exposure to wildfire smoke, which contains the same particulate pollution and more, is associated with genetic changes in children’s immune cells. “It could,” she said, “have irreversible consequences.” “Everything about this area screams bad air quality,” Patricio said. “If you had a child with asthma or any person in your household with asthma and you wanted to move into this area, it’s not a good idea. I don’t recommend it.”

Fresno and its neighboring counties in the Central Valley rank first in the country for particulate matter pollution, according to the American Lung Association. Its childhood asthma rates are far higher than the statewide average. Several busy highways pass through Fresno. Dust and chemicals swirl up from the fields. Smoke gets stuck for long stretches of time until the winds can blow it westward to the Pacific.

Zarate, a waitress, cannot stay home. This month, she got called to work at a large banquet. “I couldn’t believe it,” Zarate-Gonzalez said. “Essential workers doing the only thing they can do to pay their bills, while risking their lives.” Within 10 minutes, her face turned red. Her arms broke out in hives, then her stomach. Her chest tightened. “It was stressful and scary, so I started crying,” Robin said. “Not hyperventilating, but freaking out, kind of.”

Unlike the Central Valley, the air in the San Francisco Bay Area is gloriously clean for much of the year, and Robin can usually keep her asthma in check. She plays lacrosse and soccer. Her private school shuts down for a few days at a time when wildfire smoke is bad. She is in a clinical trial, supervised by Nadeau, to overcome her allergies.

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