Aiden Hughes, 8, suffers from asthma. Hughes’ mother, Melinda Colon, says she was constantly getting calls from school due to her son’s condition.

“The doctors told me that he should grow out of it, but as years went on, and as the temperatures changed, he's been getting asthma quite frequently,” said Colon.

Colon says she takes extra precautions and is constantly cleaning her home to prevent her son’s condition getting worse.

“I dust constantly just because of the pollen and everything coming in the home. I tried to keep the windows closed, but sometimes I like that fresh air coming in. I dust every day, two or three times a day,” said Colon.

So when winds pushed smoke from Canada into the eastern part of the U.S., and covered New York, Colon was scared for family and terrified for her son.

“I told my kids to close all the windows. I told my son to stay still, you know, not jump around … the house. I told the kids that we might have to wear masks if we do go outside because we [were] told to wear masks,” said Colon.

Holistic Pharmacist Dr. Neal Smoller says climate-related changes to air quality can directly impact your health, but that doesn’t mean people are completely powerless.

“So staying inside is awesome, but a lot of people can't do that. So we have to go out and venture out and so fortunately, we are all equipped right now with tools to help best prevent the exposure when we're outside, and those are the N95 masks,” said Smoller.

Smoller also recommends those with allergies or who have health conditions such as asthma arm themselves with the tools they need to ensure the best air quality.

“[Have] portable filtration devices that are up to snuff, meaning that they have good enough filters in them and they're rated for the size of the space that it's occupying,” said Smoller.

Even though the haze has cleared, Colon says her son has been emotionally impacted.

“My son right now, he's scared to go outside because of it … so he just stays in the house,” said Colon.