NEW YORK (PIX11) — The Canadian wildfire smoke that turned the New York City skyline orange in June was no worse for your lungs than a bad pollen day, a study conducted by NYU Langone found.

Researchers found that the air quality on June 7 was half as bad as a high pollen count day. 

While inhaling any particle-filled air is bad for your lungs, wildfire smoke is made up of organic material, one researcher said. This means it’s not as bad for the body as the toxic metals found in fossil fuel emissions. 

Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here.