Increase in Pediatric Respiratory Visits Associated with Santa Ana Wind–Driven Wildfire Smoke and PM<sub>2.5</sub> Levels in San Diego County

Leibel, Sydney; Nguyen, Margaret B.; Brick, William; Parker, Jacob; Ilango, Sindana D.; Aguilera, Rosana; Gershunov, Alexander; Benmarhnia, Tarik

doi:10.1513/annalsats.201902-150oc

Cited by 59 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Wildfires have the potential to greatly and suddenly increase PM 2.5 concentrations 22,36 , often surpassing safe limits (35 μg m −3 ) and reaching levels qualified as hazardous (>250 μg m −3 ) by the Air Quality Index (AQI, US EPA). Such sudden increase in PM 2.5 caused by wildfire smoke can thus particularly affect vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly 23,36,42,43 . Overall, a greater impact of wildfire smoke PM 2.5 on public health relative to ambient levels can be expected as PM 2.5 concentration tends to be higher during wildfire episodes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

et al. 2021

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Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive in a changing climate. Fine particulate matter, PM2.5, in wildfire smoke adversely impacts human health. Recent toxicological studies suggest that wildfire particulate matter may be more toxic than equal doses of ambient PM2.5. Air quality regulations however assume that the toxicity of PM2.5 does not vary across different sources of emission. Assessing whether PM2.5 from wildfires is more or less harmful than PM2.5 from other sources is a pressing public health concern. Here, we isolate the wildfire-specific PM2.5 using a series of statistical approaches and exposure definitions. We found increases in respiratory hospitalizations ranging from 1.3 to up to 10% with a 10 μg m−3 increase in wildfire-specific PM2.5, compared to 0.67 to 1.3% associated with non-wildfire PM2.5. Our conclusions point to the need for air quality policies to consider the variability in PM2.5 impacts on human health according to the sources of emission.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

et al. 2021

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“…From a societal perspective, the seasonal and geographic distribution of downslope winds helps to identify potential risks to infrastructure and other wind‐related hazards, including those tied to wind energy, power outages, transportation, and fire ignitions. Finally, meteorological downslope winds have also been shown to impact air quality (Li et al ., 2015; Aguilera et al ., 2019), and pose an array of adverse effects to human health via entrainment and transport of dust (Evan, 2019), smoke transport downwind of wildfires fanned by the same winds (Delfino et al ., 2009; Leibel et al ., 2019), and heat impacts on valley and coastal populations at the terminus of downslope winds (Schwartz et al ., 2019). Our database and conceptual model set the stage for evaluating downslope windstorm impacts and physical mechanisms, as well as plausible changes in downslope winds simulated by global models under a warming climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Strong winds and associated gusts accompanied by drying and warming through adiabatic compression and turbulent mixing can contribute to favourable conditions for rapid fire spread and are recognized as a critical fire weather pattern (Westerling et al ., 2004; Sharples et al ., 2010; Nauslar et al ., 2018). Downslope winds can result in widespread impacts to infrastructure, ecosystems, public health, and transportation (Delfino et al ., 2009; Lawson and Horel, 2015; Leibel et al ., 2019). They also benefit wind energy production in some regions (Romanić et al ., 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global climatology of synoptically‐forced downslope winds

Abatzoglou

Hatchett

Fox‐Hughes

et al. 2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Downslope winds are mesoscale mountain meteorological phenomena that contribute to localized temperature extremes and contribute to numerous societal and environmental impacts. Whereas previous studies have examined local downslope winds, no known efforts have attempted to identify and characterize meso-to synoptic-scale downslope winds globally using a common approach. We use a conceptual model for downslope winds that employs cross-barrier wind speed, near-mountain top static stability, and downward vertical velocity using thresholds guided by a chronology of local downslope winds and meta-analysis of downslope wind case studies. This approach was applied to ERA-5 reanalysis during 1979-2018 to develop a global atlas of downslope winds. Downslope winds adhered to distinct geographic and seasonal patterns, with peak occurrence in north-south oriented midlatitude mountains in the winter hemisphere associated with strong cross-mountain winds and stability. However, we identify numerous locations from the tropics to the high-latitudes where downslope winds occur at least 60 days a year as a byproduct of the general circulation and local-scale circulation interacting with topography. The four-decade-long data set is also used to examine statistical relationships between the occurrence of downslope winds and El Niño-Southern Oscillation as well as long-term trends in downslope wind occurrence.

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“…In the Medicaid cohort for the 2007 San Diego wildfires, when controlling for individual characteristics, young children (<5) also had increased healthcare visits for upper respiratory infections, pneumonia and bronchitis during the wildfire period, though older children did not [45]. Conversely, following a 2017 wildfire in San Diego, though pediatric respiratory visits were increased overall, the largest relative increase in respiratory visits at the university health system was actually for older children [53]. Interestingly, in that study, the regions with the highest risk for respiratory effects in children were those downwind from the fire within roughly 10 miles, suggesting that such areas could be prime targets for interventions.…”

Section: Health Effects Studied In Association With Wildfire Smokementioning

confidence: 97%

Health effects of wildfire smoke in children and public health tools: a narrative review

Holm

Miller

Balmes

2020

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

108

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Wildfire smoke is an increasing environmental health threat to which children are particularly vulnerable, for both physiologic and behavioral reasons. To address the need for improved public health messaging this review summarizes current knowledge and knowledge gaps in the health effects of wildfire smoke in children, as well as tools for public health response aimed at children, including consideration of low-cost sensor data, respirators, and exposures in school environments. There is an established literature of health effects in children from components of ambient air pollution, which are also present in wildfire smoke, and an emerging literature on the effects of wildfire smoke, particularly for respiratory outcomes. Low-cost particulate sensors demonstrate the spatial variability of pollution, including wildfire smoke, where children live and play. Surgical masks and respirators can provide limited protection for children during wildfire events, with expected decreases of roughly 20% and 80% for surgical masks and N95 respirators, respectively. Schools should improve filtration to reduce exposure of our nation's children to smoke during wildfire events. The evidence base described may help clinical and public health authorities provide accurate information to families to improve their decision making.

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Increase in Pediatric Respiratory Visits Associated with Santa Ana Wind–Driven Wildfire Smoke and PM_2.5 Levels in San Diego County

Cited by 59 publications

References 43 publications

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

Global climatology of synoptically‐forced downslope winds

Health effects of wildfire smoke in children and public health tools: a narrative review

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Increase in Pediatric Respiratory Visits Associated with Santa Ana Wind–Driven Wildfire Smoke and PM2.5 Levels in San Diego County

Cited by 59 publications

References 43 publications

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California

Global climatology of synoptically‐forced downslope winds

Health effects of wildfire smoke in children and public health tools: a narrative review

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Increase in Pediatric Respiratory Visits Associated with Santa Ana Wind–Driven Wildfire Smoke and PM_2.5 Levels in San Diego County