Fine Particles in Wildfire Smoke and Pediatric Respiratory Health in California

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Exposure to airborne fine particles with diameters ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) pollution is a well-established cause of respiratory diseases in children; whether wildfire-specific PM2.5 causes more damage, however, remains uncertain. We examine the associations between wildfire-specific PM2.5 and pediatric respiratory health during the period 2011–2017 in San Diego County, California, and compare these results with other sources of PM2.5. METHODS: Visits to emergency and urgent care facilities of Rady’s Children Hospital network in San Diego County, California, by individuals (aged ≤19 years) with ≥1 of the following respiratory conditions: difficulty breathing, respiratory distress, wheezing, asthma, or cough were regressed on daily, community-level exposure to wildfire-specific PM2.5 and PM2.5 from ambient sources (eg, traffic emissions). RESULTS: A 10-unit increase in PM2.5 (from nonsmoke sources) was estimated to increase the number of admissions by 3.7% (95% confidence interval: 1.2% to 6.1%). In contrast, the effect of PM2.5 attributable to wildfire was estimated to be a 30.0% (95% confidence interval: 26.6% to 33.4%) increase in visits. CONCLUSIONS: Wildfire-specific PM2.5 was found to be ∼10 times more harmful on children’s respiratory health than PM2.5 from other sources, particularly for children aged 0 to 5 years. Even relatively modest wildfires and associated PM2.5 resolved on our record produced major health impacts, particularly for younger children, in comparison with ambient PM2.5.

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“…Wildfire-specific fine particulate matter PM2.5 was found to be ∼10 times more harmful on children's respiratory health than PM2.5 from other sources, particularly for children aged 0-5 years. 116 The described immunological mechanism implicates IL-1β and C reactive protein. 117 The exposome-immune system interplay is decisive for resilience and immune homeostasis.…”

“…Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive in a changing climate. Wildfire‐specific fine particulate matter PM2.5 was found to be ∼10 times more harmful on children's respiratory health than PM2.5 from other sources, particularly for children aged 0–5 years 116 . The described immunological mechanism implicates IL‐1β and C reactive protein 117 …”

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“…PM2.5 or haze is formed by a mixed reaction of various pollutants, such as gases and particulates, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with a diameter of < 2.5 μm is a recognized cause of respiratory diseases in children [ 1 ]. At present, the generation of air pollutants is continuing to increase.…”

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“…The full health impact of the 2019-2020 wildfires will not be known for some time due to lags in the availability of health data, but current assessments estimate around 90 increased deaths in Washington State (Liu et al, 2021) in 2020, and over 400 additional deaths and a few thousand increased hospitalizations from the 2019-2020 bushfires in Australia (Borchers Arriagada et al, 2020). Because these studies rely on concentration-response functions from non-wildfire air pollution studies, we would expect the number of deaths related to wildfire smoke to rise when using a potentially steeper concentration-response function for wildfire smoke (Aguilera et al, 2021;Kiser et al, 2020).…”