The cloud is moving slowly but surely over the North Atlantic. Loaded with soot produced by the megafires ravaging Canadian forests, it is heading straight for Europe, and in particular France. Should we therefore fear generalized asphyxiation? As of this writing, the threat is fairly low. “The cloud is more than 5,000 meters above sea level, so there is no significant concentration at breathing height, no air pollution, specifies Antoine Trouche, spokesperson for Airparif, l body responsible for monitoring air quality in the Paris region. But we are monitoring developments closely. »
For his part, Mark Parrington, researcher at the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), is also reassuring: “The impacts of pollution on the surface are not expected to be significant because, during pollution transport episodes at long ranges like this, most particulates and other pollutants are found at high altitudes, usually between about 2 and 8 km. »
Same story with Ineris. “The Canadian fire plume must reach, and possibly remain, Western Europe for days to come. The great uncertainty concerns the altitude of the plume’s overflight. From the information currently available to us, it appears that the concentrations predicted at this time should not lead to a large-scale episode at the surface. But since the uncertainties remain significant on this type of phenomenon, we must remain vigilant, because the situation could continue until Thursday, “says Point Augustin Colette, head of the atmospheric modeling and environmental mapping unit at Ineris.
During our dossier on the list of French cities where you can breathe the best, we asked Bénédicte Jacquemain, epidemiologist at the Institute for Health, Environment and Work Research in Rennes, about the dangers of these PM2.5: “ What you have to understand is that air pollution has both short-term and long-term effects. The first take place a few hours or days after peaks of exposure: increased hospitalizations, mortality, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, strokes, etc. “.
With climate change, epidemiologists also fear an increase in exposure to fine particles of populations, due to a greater occurrence of mega forest fires. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with an increased risk of cancer, poorer cognitive development in children and possibly a decline in cognitive function in adults, even a risk of dementia, but also asthma rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and also damage to the cardiovascular system, with an increase in hypertension, diabetes, etc.
According to a large study by the prestigious American Harvard University and published in February 2021, these microscopic particles were responsible for around 100,000 deaths in France in 2018, or 17% of all deaths in France.
