Spain trains in ‘hazardous’ air ahead of World Cup final with Argentina

With the sun obstructed by haze, Spain’s players have practised in northern New Jersey ahead of the World Cup final in air declared hazardous due to Canadian wildfires smoke.

It was not clear how intensely Spain trained. The media was only able to observe the first 15 minutes of a scheduled hour-long session in East Hanover.

Argentina remained in the Atlanta area less than 24 hours after rallying to beat England and reach the final for a second consecutive tournament. 

Marietta, Georgia, is far enough south to avoid the effects of the fires, which are blowing to the south-east from northern Ontario, triggering warnings from the US mid-west to the north-east.

Officials urged people to stay inside or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy-to-hazardous levels, meaning it’s unhealthy for anyone, regardless of their health. Experts expressed concern over holding practice outdoors.

“These are high-level athletes who are moving a lot of air through their lungs during every practice in every game, and really they shouldn’t be practising outside if the air quality levels are at hazardous sort of ranges for wildfire-related air pollution,” said Dr Courtney Howard, an emergency room physician and Global Climate and Health Alliance official. 

“That’s the time to schedule a practice inside. You could put an N95 mask on them, but trying to make sure that everybody’s mask is well-fitted, I suspect that’s not the best choice. I would go find an air-conditioned indoor facility that’s a clean-air shelter.”

Messages sent to FIFA and the Spanish Football Association asking if that was considered or possible were not immediately returned. The smoke is expected to clear the area well before the game on Monday at 5am (AEST).

Air quality in East Hanover started as “unhealthy” early on Thursday but got cleaner, so by mid-afternoon it was merely “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” according to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now monitoring system. 

Particle pollution in New Jersey was more than seven times higher than the World Health Organization standard. 

It is forecast to improve to “moderate” for the game.

Smoke from wildfires attacks almost every system in the body, killing tens of thousands of people a year, medical studies show.

It attacks the body immediately, spiking asthma cases and increasing ambulance calls within hours. 

Smoke can trigger inflammation in different parts of the body, often attacking a person’s weakest points, which can then cascade into different effects as the immune system tries to fight a nasty irritant, doctors and scientists say.

“It’s not healthy for anyone to be in the smoke, especially if you’re exercising,” Harvard School of Public Health environmental health research scientist Mary Johnson said. 

“You’re exchanging more air, so you’re being exposed to even more pollutants, and even healthy individuals at some point will have some type of health effect from the exposure to the smoke. 

“So, even though these are healthy young individuals, it’s not a good idea to be exercising 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 recognise some of these as being very bad, often times associated with the burning of diesel fuel or cigarette smoke, things like formaldehyde or volatile organic compounds,” Montrose said. 

“Just the smoke itself can be bad.”

AP