Wildfire smoke has also been affecting air quality for millions of people in this country, causing short-term health effects such as burning eyes, sore throat, cough and headache. …”I always talk about people with chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and COPD as the canaries in the coal mine of wildfire smoke,” Sarah Henderson, an epidemiologist who researches wildfire smoke. …One of the known dangers of wildfire smoke is particulate matter. Any particles smaller than 2.5 microns can infiltrate the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier. When PM2.5 gets into your lungs, your body’s immune system kicks into gear, similar to the way it would treat a virus or bacteria, said Henderson. But those tiny smoke particles can’t be killed the way viruses or bacteria can be, so your immune system just keeps working. That can bring on systemic inflammation in the body, which can lead over time to chronic diseases such as heart disease.