Ever wonder what you’re breathing in as you stroll through the fog of wildfire smoke in western Montana valleys?   The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has a pretty good idea.  They’ve analyzed and quantified what’s been spewed into the air from area wildfires and it’s a very long list.

Based on a burn area of 813, 505 acres, Montanans are breathing air laced with 7.3 million tons of Carbon Dioxide, 53- thousand tons of carbon monoxide, 96-thousand tons of fine particulate matter and lesser amounts of 20 other toxic elements and compounds including Benzene, Toluene and Mercury.

The numbers are bound to increase.  According to Shawn Ubranski of the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, the numbers are for emissions through September 9, 2012.

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