Wildfire smoke exposure and human health: Significant gaps in research for a growing public health issue

Black, Carolyn; Tesfaigzi, Yohannes; Bassein, J.A.; Miller, Lisa

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2017.08.022

Cited by 222 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Smoke, toxic fumes and haze create poor visibility and, consequently hinder evacuation and the use of firefighting aircraft. They are also responsible for short and long-term health problems (e.g., [101][102][103]) and even loss of lives which can occur not only during but also in the aftermath of an event. The upward convective motion of the plume is powered by the amount of energy released by the combustion, integrated by the latent heat released when vapor condensation occurs [104][105][106][107].…”

Section: The Definition Of Extreme Wildfire Event As a Process And Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts

Tedim

Leone

Amraoui

et al. 2018

Fire

305

206

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Every year worldwide some extraordinary wildfires occur, overwhelming suppression capabilities, causing substantial damages, and often resulting in fatalities. Given their increasing frequency, there is a debate about how to address these wildfires with significant social impacts, but there is no agreement upon terminology to describe them. The concept of extreme wildfire event (EWE) has emerged to bring some coherence on this kind of events. It is increasingly used, often as a synonym of other terms related to wildfires of high intensity and size, but its definition remains elusive. The goal of this paper is to go beyond drawing on distinct disciplinary perspectives to develop a holistic view of EWE as a social-ecological phenomenon. Based on literature review and using a transdisciplinary approach, this paper proposes a definition of EWE as a process and an outcome. Considering the lack of a consistent "scale of gravity" to leverage extreme wildfire events such as in natural hazards (e.g., tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes) we present a proposal of wildfire classification with seven categories based on measurable fire spread and behavior parameters and suppression difficulty. The categories 5 to 7 are labeled as EWE.

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Section: The Definition Of Extreme Wildfire Event As a Process And Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts

Tedim

Leone

Amraoui

et al. 2018

Fire

305

206

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, exposure to traffic‐related air pollution during the first year of life has been associated with impaired lung function in both children and adolescents . However, evidence of long‐term respiratory impacts from relatively short durations of air pollution exposure during infancy is extremely limited . One study investigating the Great Smog in London suggested that exposure to the Great Smog during the first year of life could increase the risk of childhood asthma …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early life exposure to coal mine fire smoke emissions and altered lung function in young children

et al. 2019

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Background and objective Long‐term respiratory risks following exposure to relatively short periods of poor air quality early in life are unknown. We aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to a 6‐week episode of air pollution from a coal mine fire in children aged <2 years, and their lung function 3 years after the fire. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study. Individual exposure to 24‐h average and peak concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) during the fire were estimated using dispersion and chemical transport modelling. Lung function was measured using the forced oscillation technique (FOT), generating standardized Z‐scores for resistance and reactance at a frequency of 5 Hz (Rrs5 and Xrs5), and area under the reactance curve (AX). We used linear regression models to assess the associations between PM2.5 exposure and lung function, adjusted for potential confounders. Results Of the 203 infants originally recruited, 84 aged 4.3 ± 0.5 years completed FOT testing. Median (interquartile range, IQR) for average and peak PM2.5 were 7.9 (6.8–16.8) and 103.4 (60.6–150.7) μg/m3, respectively. The mean ± SD Z‐scores for Rrs5, Xrs5 and AX were 0.56 ± 0.80, –0.76 ± 0.88 and 0.72 ± 0.92, respectively. After adjustment for potential confounders including maternal smoking during pregnancy, a 10 μg/m3 increase in average PM2.5 was significantly associated with worsening AX (β‐coefficient: 0.260; 95% CI: 0.019, 0.502), while the association between a 100‐μg/m3 increase in peak PM2.5 and AX was borderline (0.166; 95% CI: −0.002, 0.334). Conclusion Infant exposure to coal mine fire emissions could be associated with long‐term impairment of lung reactance.

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“…Toxicological evaluations of ambient PM have been extensively conducted, whereas the toxicology and mechanisms of WSPs and related components have been poorly defined. Recent studies on WSP exposure have suggested that WSPs enhance inflammation and oxidative stress responses [4,[23][24][25][26][27]. The oxidative stress paradigm suggests that low levels of ROS/ oxidative stress can induce antioxidant induction to restore redox homeostasis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms of lung toxicity induced by biomass burning aerosols

Pardo

et al. 2020

Part Fibre Toxicol

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Background: Carbonaceous aerosols emitted from indoor and outdoor biomass burning are major risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. Wood tar aerosols, namely, tar ball particles, compose a substantial fraction of carbonaceous emissions, especially from biomass smoldering. However, their health-related impacts and toxicity are still not well known. This study investigated the toxicity of the water-soluble fraction of pyrolyzed wood tar aerosols in exposed mice and lung epithelial cells.Results: Mice exposed to water-soluble wood tar aerosols showed increased inflammatory and oxidative stress responses. Bronchial epithelial cells exposed to the same water-soluble wood tar aerosols showed increased cell death with apoptotic characteristics. Alterations in oxidative status, including changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and reductions in the expression of antioxidant genes related to the transcription factor Nrf2, were observed and were confirmed by increased levels of MDA, a lipid peroxidation adduct. Damage to mitochondria was observed as an early event responsible for the aforementioned changes. Conclusions:The toxicity and health effect-related mechanisms of water-soluble wood tar were investigated for the first time in the context of biomass burning. Wood tar particles may account for major responses such as cell death, oxidative stress, supression of protection mechnaisms and mitochondrial damaged cause by expsoure to biomass burning aerosols.

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Wildfire smoke exposure and human health: Significant gaps in research for a growing public health issue

Cited by 222 publications

References 97 publications

Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts

Defining Extreme Wildfire Events: Difficulties, Challenges, and Impacts

Early life exposure to coal mine fire smoke emissions and altered lung function in young children

Mechanisms of lung toxicity induced by biomass burning aerosols

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