A wildfire expert says we need to take the health impacts of wildfire smoke much more seriously that we currently do.

University of Alberta Wildland Fire Science Professor Mike Flannigan says globally about 330,000 premature deaths are directly related to wildfire smoke, mostly in southeast Asia.

“Its these little small particles that are found in smoke and there’s over 4,000 chemicals in smoke,” he said.

“If you do vigourous exercise, you breathe in deeply and these little particles are trapped in your lungs, and affect lung capacity perhaps for the rest of your life.”

Flannigan adds even episodic smoke exposure summer after summer can be considered long term exposure.

“Some of this is common sense, stay indoors,” he added. “But during a prolonged exposure the air quality inside may be as bad as outside.”

He noted the health impacts are especially concerning for those with existing respiratory health conditions.