The Metro: Air quality in Detroit is better. A local physician is still concerned
Sam Corey, The Metro, Matt Williams July 21, 2026Dr. Wolff, an allergy and immunology physician at the Detroit Medical Center, spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the health consequences of breathing smoke-filled air.
Wildfire smoke at times last week made Detroit’s air quality the worst in the world — that’s in a place that consistently gets terrible grades for heavy pollution.
So, how is our health impacted by poor air quality?
Dr. Garen Wolff is an allergy and immunology physician at the Detroit Medical Center. She says people with asthma are having to use inhalers too often.
“It should be (used) less than twice a week, but when we have poor air quality for long periods of time, I have patients using their rescue inhaler every day and that’s not healthy for the lungs to do,” says Wolff.
Dr. Wolff spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the health consequences of breathing smoke-filled air.
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Authors
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Sam Corey is a producer for 101.9 WDET, which includes finding and preparing interesting stories for the daily news, arts and culture program, The Metro. Sam joined WDET after a year and a half at The Union, a small newspaper in California, and stints at a variety of local Michigan outlets, including WUOM and the Metro Times. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. -
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