Wildfire Haze - Is breathing it the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes?

Alexei Khalizov

Alexei Khalizov

Associate Professor, Chemistry and Environmental Science

That would be a reasonable comparison. A cigarette is made of plant material. When it smolders and burns it releases particles that are very much like those particles from wildfires. Maybe the only difference is that the wildfires have no nicotine. But they have lots of other chemicals.