Health impacts of Canadian wildfires felt in St. Louis region

Canadian wildfires
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Hazardous Canadian wildfire smoke drifting along the East Coast continues to impact us here in the Midwest. "The air quality has deteriorated a bit due to these Canadian wildfires and also due to the effect of summertime heat," explains Washington University pulmonologist Dr. Derek Byers at Barnes Jewish Hospital.

The St. Louis region is under an Orange Air Quality Alert Thursday. That means it's unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Listen: Fred Bodimer on wildfire impact

Also kids, the elderly and pregnant women are most impacted. Dr. Byers suggests staying indoors if you are at high risk and feel effects like sinus congestion and irritated eyes.

AccuWeather's Dean DeVore joined Total Information AM and told Megan Lynch and Debbie Monterrey not to expect the wildfires to, "end anytime soon."

"These are probably issues that we're going to have to deal with, on and off here over the next couple of months here as the wildfire season continues, especially up in Canada," says DeVore.

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