High risk of respiratory diseases in children in the fire period in Western Amazon

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To analyze the toxicological risk of exposure to ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) among schoolchildren..METHODS Toxicological risk assessment was used to evaluate the risk of exposure to O3 and PM2.5 from biomass burning among schoolchildren aged six to 14 years, residents of Rio Branco, Acre, Southern Amazon, Brazil. We used Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the potential intake dose of both pollutants.RESULTS During the slash-and-burn periods, O3 and PM2.5 concentrations reached 119.4 µg/m3 and 51.1 µg/m3, respectively. The schoolchildren incorporated medium potential doses regarding exposure to O3 (2.83 μg/kg.day, 95%CI 2.72–2.94). For exposure to PM2.5, we did not find toxicological risk (0.93 μg/kg.day, 95%CI 0.86–0.99). The toxicological risk for exposure to O3 was greater than 1 for all children (QR = 2.75; 95%CI 2.64–2.86).CONCLUSIONS Schoolchildren were exposed to high doses of O3 during the dry season of the region. This posed a toxicological risk, especially to those who had previous diseases.

Analysis of fire risk in the Amazon: a systematic review

“…In addition to environmental damage, forest fires expose the populations of affected areas to a large amount of pollutants, characterized by plumes of smoke from the burning of plant biomass (Barlow et al, 2019). In this sense, burning would become a public health problem, as evidenced in the study developed by Silva et al (2016), analyzed in this work.…”

“…The study conducted by Silva et al (2016) presented the results of a research conducted in the health area on the exposure of children to pollutants present in the air from biomass burning, in the city of Rio Branco-AC, part of the "deforestation arc". The burning of volatile organic compounds (VOC) present in forest biomass generates Ozone (O3) and this has a high degree of toxicity causing respiratory problems to the exposed population.…”

“…Although the research of Silva et al (2016) does not explore the risk of fire in the Amazon, the study exposes the impacts to public health caused by fire. As reported by the authors, even if a particular municipality or state area is not the place of occurrence of the fire, air currents transport pollutants from the fires and reach distant areas, thereby affecting more people (Silva et al, 2016).…”

Different Response to Exposure to Air Pollutants in Girls and Boys

“…In Cuiabá, with fine particulate data estimated by CCATT-BRAMS, the risk of children hospitalization for respiratory diseases was up to 22% in the dry season, 4 coinciding with our values regarding lag days. A study also conducted in the Amazon Region identified toxicological risks from exposure to ozone, but not to fine particulate, whose concentrations reached 50 µg/m 3 12 …”

“…Some studies have identified an association between exposure to fine particulate and hospitalizations for respiratory diseases 8 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 …”