Rutgers scientists have examined the physical and chemical attributes as well as the possible toxicological health effects of the Canadian wildfires that sharply impacted air quality in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Center (NAMC) at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) and the Rutgers School of Public Health completed a measurement campaign to characterize the physicochemical and toxicological properties of wildfire air pollution.

Scientists found that the air being breathed in New Jersey and New York could be compared to the second-hand smoke in bars before smoking was banned.

Read more at: University of New Jersey

Photo credit: Matt Champlin via Flickr