The General Directorate of Public Health of the Canary Islands has asked the palm tree population refrain from performing outdoor recreational and sports activities to avoid exposure to volcanic emanations, such as those that are being recorded in the active eruption of La Palma.
Exposure of healthy people to gases and ashes that emits the volcanic eruption can produce respiratory, ocular, and skin effects if it is not covered, as reported by the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Therefore, Salud remembers that staying and bathing in beaches and swimming pools carries an added risk, by remaining with the body uncovered and without a mask, so it is not advisable to go to the beach or the pool in the current circumstances.
Similarly, it exposes the population to the need to take health protection measures against exposure to volcanic emanations and while this situation persists, people’s stay in the open air should be limited to what is strictly essential.
People who must remain in an area exposed to ash during the volcano’s eruptive process must adopt individual protection measures: FFP2 mask, protective goggles and the skin completely covered with a long-sleeved shirt, pants and a cap.
Finally, children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with lung or heart diseases are those at greatest risk and those who must exercise extreme compliance with measures to protect their health.
