As the smog from Canadian wildfires begins to dissipate across the United States, experts warn that the pollution doesn’t just impact your lungs but your skin as well. 

Nearly 120 million Americans are exposed to potentially life-shortening air pollution in their life, a report from the American Lung Association said.

Medical researchers have found that exposure to air pollution is a risk factor for skin disorders such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.

The ‘toxic’ smog is also associated with hyperpigmentation spots and wrinkle formation.

Last week, wildfire smoke from Canada caused air quality levels to skyrocket to ‘hazardous’ levels.

Online calculators suggested breathing in the air in New York City for 24 hours was equivalent to smoking 22 cigarettes at the height of the crisis. 

Dr Christine Ko, a professor of dermatology from Yale School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com: ‘Wildfire smoke can contain tiny, particulate matter that can be breathed into the lungs; for skin, the particles are often too big to truly penetrate healthy skin.’

She recommended maintaining skin health by ‘keeping the outermost layer strong (no picking or excessive rubbing) and washing gently but thoroughly.’ 

Dr Ko said: ‘If skin is not healthy, meaning the skin barrier is not completely protective — as in if you have eczema or acne or psoriasis, more care should be taken to protect the skin from pollutants by covering skin, as an example.’

Dr Shari Lipner, dermatologist from Weill Cornell Medicine, told DailyMail.com: ‘The impact of wildfire smoke on the skin needs to be studied more rigorously, but it is likely one of the first place that you can see signs of damage from pollution. 

‘Since one study showed that there was an increase in medical visits for eczema and psoriasis during the California wildfires, wildfire likely causes flares in people who have eczema and psoriasis.’

Dermatologist Dr Doris Day told FOX Weather the wildfire smoke can have a ‘powerful impact on your skin.’

She said: ‘You might see it as dry skin, dull skin, acne, light breakouts, uneven skin tone, and then with continued long-term exposure. We see accelerated skin aging and even skin cancer.’

Protecting skin from pollutants is ‘so important,’ she said, and getting rid of them by washing your face as soon as possible is ‘critical.’

She said: ‘Washing off makeup and washing your face when you get home is really helpful because sleeping with those pollutants and makeup on your skin accelerates that toxicity and increases it over time.’

The smoke filled the air with tiny particles called PM2.5, measuring around 2.5 micrometers. 

In comparison, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a single human hair is about 70 micrometers, and the human eye can’t see anything smaller than 25 micrometers. 

The health impact of a particle concentration of 22μg/m3 per 24 hours is equivalent to about one cigarette. 

Inhaling these particles can cause inflammation in the heart and lungs, leading to chronic illnesses such as asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 

The particle matter can also penetrate the skin and, when it does so, leads to an immune reaction causing inflammation.

This can, in turn, damage skin cells and cause them to lose their structure, raising the risk of wrinkles.

It can also lead to other skin diseases.  

A 2021 study in JAMA Dermatology, for example, found that short-term exposure to this smoke can cause flare-ups of skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema. These could even show up weeks later.

Additionally, a study published last year linked short-term exposure to pollution from California wildfires to an increase in eczema and itchy skin in adults over age 65.