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With the sun obstructed by fog, Spain’s players practiced Thursday before the World Cup final outdoors in northern New Jersey, while air conditions are hazardous due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
It was not clear how fast Spain was practicing. Members of the media can only watch the first 15 minutes of what was scheduled to be an hour-long session in East Hanover starting at 11 a.m. EDT.
Argentina remained in the Atlanta area to train less than 24 hours after coming from behind to beat England and reach the final for the second consecutive tournament. Marietta, Georgia, is far enough south to avoid the effects of the fire, which is being blown southeast from northern Ontario, prompting warnings from the U.S. Midwest to the Northeast.
Authorities urged people to stay indoors or wear masks outdoors as air quality reached unhealthy and dangerous levels, meaning it is unhealthy for anyone, regardless of their health conditions. Experts expressed concern about practicing outdoors.
“These are high-level athletes who move a lot of air through their lungs during every practice of every game, and they really shouldn’t be practicing outdoors if air quality levels are in dangerous ranges for wildfire-related air pollution,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency physician and official with the Global Alliance for Climate and Health. “That’s the time to schedule an indoor practice. You could put them in an N95 mask, but trying to make sure everyone’s mask is properly fitted, I suspect, is not the best option. I would look for an air-conditioned indoor facility that is a haven of clean air.”
Messages sent to FIFA and the Spanish Football Association asking if this was considered or possible were not immediately answered. The smoke is expected to clear the area well before Sunday’s championship game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m.
Air quality in East Hanover started early Thursday morning as “unhealthy” but became cleaner, so by mid-afternoon it was simply “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now monitoring system. Particle pollution in New Jersey on Thursday was more than seven times higher than the World Health Organization standard. The forecast calls for an improvement to “moderate” for Sunday.
Smoke from wildfires, which are burning more of North America as the Earth warms, attacks nearly every system in the body and kills tens of thousands of people a year, numerous medical studies show.
It attacks the body immediately, increasing asthma cases with an increase in the number of ambulances within hours. Smoke can trigger inflammation in different parts of the body, often attacking a person’s weakest points, which can then trigger different effects from an immune system trying to fight off an unpleasant irritant, doctors and scientists said.
“It’s not healthy for anyone to be in the smoke, especially if you’re exercising,” said Mary Johnson, an environmental health research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health. “You’re exchanging more air, so you’re exposed to even more pollutants, and even healthy people at some point will have some kind of health effect from smoke exposure. So even though these are young, healthy people, it’s not a good idea to exercise in this type of environment.”
Scientists have counted at least 1,000 toxins in wildfire smoke, according to Colorado State University environmental toxicologist Luke Montrose.
“If I gave you a list, you would recognize that some of these are very bad, often associated with burning diesel fuel or cigarette smoke, like formaldehyde or volatile organic compounds,” Montrose said. “Only the smoke itself can be bad.”
Associated Press information.
