Deadly toxic air smothers America as millions in 16 states are told to stay indoors…

Millions in the US remain under dire air quality warnings as wildfire smoke from Canada makes the air worse for your health than smoking a dozen cigarettes a day.

The situation has deteriorated to the point where major metropolitan areas, including Chicago, Detroit, Washington and New York are now ranked as the worst polluted cities in the world on Friday.

The National Weather Service has issued air quality alerts in 16 states, stretching from Minnesota and Illinois in the Upper Midwest to New York, New Jersey and Virginia along the East Coast.

According to the EPA, the air is now considered ‘hazardous’ from northern Minnesota to Columbus, Ohio – the agency’s most severe air quality rating.

The wildfire smoke pouring down from hundreds of forest fires in Canada, mainly in the province of Ontario, is filled with microscopic pollutants called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5.

These are toxic compounds typically created by burning wood or industrial pollution, which are small enough to penetrate human tissue and cause severe breathing issues or even death among people with heart and lung disease.

Health officials have noted that breathing in PM2.5 in the amounts currently seen in Detroit (292.6 µg/m³) on Friday equates to smoking more than 13 cigarettes in a single day.

According to live air quality-tracking website IQAir, Chicago’s air is currently filled with more than 240 µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic meter) – the equivalent of smoking more than 10 cigarettes in a day.

This is a breaking story. More details to follow. 

Air quality monitors have deemed the air to be ‘hazardous’ in multiple US cities on Friday, July 17

On Thursday, Chicago (Pictured) was covered in wildfire smoke pouring south from Canada

The city of Detroit, Michigan (Pictured) has been ranked as the most polluted city on Earth due to the Canadian wildfire smoke

Residents in New York (Pictured) struggled to breathe outdoors on Thursday due to intense air pollution from the Canadian wildfires