Pollution from the burning B.C. forests

A high-powered microscope in a U.S. university has provided a disturbing close-up look at the pollution from the worst wildfire season in B.C. history. During the height of the forest fire season… a researcher at the University of Western Washington in Bellingham decided to take a closer look at the particles people were breathing in. In August, when the pollution from the burning B.C. forests drifted into Washington state, Dr. Mike Kraft, a research associate at Western Washington University (WWU), collected some samples and ran them through the university’s new Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). At the time, there were advisories on both sides of the border for people with chronic medical conditions. …Air in Whatcom County was rated “hazardous” for particulates. Metro Vancouver air quality was rated worse than Los Angels and Beijing.