Dangerous smog over Chicago creates looming health threat

CHICAGO - Monday looked like a perfect summer day for being outside but health experts say you’ll be breathing some potentially dangerous air.
 
David Soler of Schiller Park says he knew when he got up this morning it was going to be a rough one: "Days like this you feel the air a lot thicker."
 
Having suffered from asthma since he was a kid, David keeps an inhaler in his pocket at all times.
 
“On a day like this it would be almost a death trap to have the air-conditioning off. I was able to feel that instantaneously when I woke up,“ he said.
 
But it’s not just people with asthma and other respiratory issues who are being warned.
 
“Today it’s a red air quality day, which means it’s unhealthy for children, adults over 65 and can affect anyone who is out, active, outside for a prolonged period of time," said Jill Thompson from the American Lung Association.
 
Jill Thompson of the American Lung Association says that blue haze hanging over Chicago is caused by pollutants trapped under a dome of hot air that could last for days. 
 
“Ozone pollution they say is like a sunburn on your lungs. So it can actually burn and irritate your lungs, make it difficult to breathe, makes you cough," Thompson said.
 
The Illinois EPA has also issued air quality warning, saying the weekend’s fireworks only made matters worse, throwing smoke and ash into the mix.
 
Doctor’s say the masks we are wearing to prevent COVID-19 serve a double purpose right now by also filtering out the pollution
 
“We tell them to really just listen to their body. To understand when they’ve they’ve reached their limit. To slow things down a bit," said Dr. Michael Hoffman from Cook County Health.
 
It’s unlikely the smog will lift until the weekend.