Canadian wildfires cause Lehigh Valley residents to mask up

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Widespread Canadian wildfires have left the Lehigh Valley besieged by unhealthy smoke. But Rob Dohanish, an assistant manager at The Home Depot on Nazareth Pike in Bethlehem, reports no significant increase in the sales of protective masks.

The reason?

"I think since COVID, people are pretty well stocked with masks," Dohanish said Wednesday afternoon. "We have not been seeing an influx of mask sales in our store. What I see are people coming into our store with masks on."

The hazardous air quality in Lehigh Valley has moved residents to resume mask wearing to a level not seen since the coronavirus pandemic.

The Lehigh Valley on Wednesday was placed under a code red air quality alert, meaning the region may exceed unhealthy levels for a second consecutive day.

While The Home Depot's mask sales have not spiked, customers at Walmart Superstore in Whitehall Township are buying masks "more than usual this week," according to one employee.

However, medical experts warn cotton, fabric or surgical masks will not protect the wearer from inhaling dangerous particles of smoke that can lead to respiratory distress issues.

In fact, experts say those types of loose-fitting masks may be harmful in that dangerous particles may collect inside the mask.

The type of mask that best protects against the type of particulate matter that may be present in the wildfire smoke is a N95 mask or KN95 mask.

Those masks are composed of several layers of plastic, polypropylene, and cellulose/polyester, offering the wearer sufficient protection from pollutants.

Cantelmi (Ace) Hardware of East Fourth Street in Bethlehem sells both regular masks and N95 masks.

"We haven't seen any significant increase in sales," said Freddie Velazquez, a store employee, "and we carry both regular masks and N95 masks."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index provides color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Green means the air quality is good; yellow means moderate; orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people; and red warns of unhealthy pollution levels for all.

A manager of an Easton business that sells all types of masks said he has seen a moderate increase in sales this week.

While he would not offer his name to be used in this story, he did offer his advice to Lehigh Valley residents dealing with wildfire smoke.

Stay home.