Trending
LANSING - There are more than 40 air quality monitors across Michigan operated by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, but only two in the Upper Peninsula.
And that raises serious public health concerns due to an increasing number of wildfires and the smoke that follows, environmental experts say.
"Particulate matter can penetrate deep into lungs, and wildfire smoke exposure is an immediate acute event," said Samantha Pickering, the public and environmental health policy manager at the Michigan Environmental Council.
Samantha Pickering is the public & environmental health policy manager at the Michigan Environmental Council. Credit: Michigan Environmental Council. (Photo courtesy of Capital News Service)
One is at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Eastern UP. In 2024, the second monitor was added outside of Marquette's city limits.
The two monitors in the UP check for different pollutants. One measures PM 2.5 pollutants, which are small particles like liquid droplets or tiny solid 2.5 micrometers of chemicals.
There are no current plans to add more monitors in the UP, according to the department's website.
"When you get closer to the southeast side of the state, that's where you see the majority of them." For example, the large amount of industry and how dense the population is in Detroit makes air quality monitoring a priority, compared to less populated areas in the state, Pickering said.
The goal is to increase the monitoring capacity, although funding is an issue, she said.
"They're very costly," she said. "Not all rural communities are accurately represented currently in monitoring and data collection."
According to a 2024 posting on the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy website, "Citizens have asked for more air quality monitoring in the UP for many years."
Organizations like the American Lung Association and local UP health departments emphasize the danger of these air pollutants, especially for those in rural areas who work outdoors or lack clean air shelter.
People such as elders and children, especially ones with asthma and other chronic diseases, are highly negatively impacted by the smoke, health experts say.
If particles are breathed in it can cause people to miss days of work and school and may cause long or short-term health risks, such as heart attacks and premature deaths for those with existing respiratory illnesses, according to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
Pickering said research has also shown adverse effects of wildfire smoke on mental health and on glaucoma patients.
In addition, she said, "There's a big role that socioeconomics plays in this, since it's hard to get access to resources in rural areas, such as medical care."
Low-income people who cannot access protective equipment or air filtering equipment are at a bigger risk for negative health impacts, according to the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.
The impact on animals from air pollutants and wildfire smoke hasn't been researched well enough, Pickering said.
"We do know though, that smoke can lead to dairy cows producing less milk," she said.