Air pollution comes from many sources and in our area the biggest culprit is wildfire smoke and we’re just finding out how toxic it can be.

As far as protecting ourselves goes, staying indoors when smoke is bad is the first thing we think of, but when it’s really bad, we have to start thinking about the air quality inside our homes.

Michael Mehta is faculty member of geography at Thompson Rivers University and he says there’s different things we can use, like expensive furnace filters and air purifiers, but it depends on the size of your place and and your budget.

“There are also do it yourself options. In the past I’ve had students build HEPA filtration systems with HEPA furnace filters attached to box fans. All of these things are effective.”

He says if you do have to go outside, there are several mask options to look into as well.

Mehta thinks, when it comes to protecting ourselves, we should go with our instincts instead of relying so much on the government for information.

“The advisories are typically delayed sometimes as much as 24 or 48 hours and people aren’t getting timely information.”

Mehta added most of the information comes from one central air quality station in downtown Kamloops and does necessarily reflect the reality of the entire region.