Wildfire smoke is more dangerous than anyone knows

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The more researchers learn about wildfire smoke, the more alarming the picture becomes. Smoke contains microscopic particles known as PM 2.5 Because PM (particulate matter) is 2.5 microns or less, it is small enough to easily make its way into our lungs and then into our bloodstream. Researchers have already linked particles in wildfire smoke to higher levels risk From strokes, heart disease, respiratory diseases, lung cancer and other serious conditions.

The harmful effects do not stop there. 2024 has been a great year for research into wildfire smoke and its impact on health, from brain function to fertility. While there is still a lot to learn, wildfire smoke is thought to be particularly virulent comparison to other sources of air pollution; Smaller particle size, intermittent spikes, and higher concentration of inflammatory compounds make it more common dangerous.

This year’s new findings are alarming. But the more we learn about smoke, the better we can protect ourselves from it, whether we live hundreds of miles from a fire or face it directly as wildland firefighters do. Research confirms the need for some changes, including improving indoor air filtration systems in our homes and hospitals, Schoolsand Nursing homesand Clean air centres For people who have nowhere else to breathe healthy air. Meanwhile, Respirators Wildland firefighters are currently being tested by the federal government. We also need to reduce smoke pollution at the source by taking measures to reduce the risk and severity of wildfires, such as prescribed burns.

Here are some of the biggest advances in scientists’ understanding of wildfire smoke in 2024:

New estimates predict that 125 million Americans will face unhealthy air due to wildfires by 2054.

His forest fire smoke erased Air quality has improved in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue. Millions more people will be exposed to unhealthy air in the coming years, according to a new report Models It was released by the First Street Foundation in February. It is estimated that by 2054, more than 125 million Americans each year will be exposed to “red” air quality, which is considered a serious problem. Unhealthy The level set by the Environmental Protection Agency — a 50 percent increase from 2024. California’s Central Valley will see the worst of it, with Fresno and Tulare counties likely to experience three months a year of unhealthy air, according to the study.

Smoke can hinder fertility treatments

The fires that broke out over Labor Day weekend in 2020 blanketed Oregon with some fires Worst air quality in the world at that time. Those 10 or so days of smoky air affected everyone, especially patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University studied 69 patients who received ovarian stimulation and IVF treatment in the six weeks following the wildfires. Their study was published in the journal Fertility and infertility in May, Found Patients exposed to wildfire smoke produced fewer blastocysts — clusters of cells that can develop into embryos — than those who were not exposed. Most patients were still pregnant, but the study’s lead author said she was concerned about how smoke would affect fertility treatments. She said to Idaho Capital Sun That, as an additional precaution, fertility providers may wish to delay IVF or embryo transfer for high-risk patients during times of poor air quality.

Eva Sanderlin and her granddaughter Aurora Sanderlin, of Scottsdale, Arizona, monitor Bridal Falls in Yosemite National Park in Yosemite, California, as smoke from the Washburn Fire covers the valley on July 11, 2022.

Photo: Getty Images

Forest fire smoke kills people prematurely

Thousands more died from wildfire smoke than previously expected, according to a UCLA study. new research A study published in the journal Science Advances in June found that fine particles in smoke led to 52,500 to 55,700 premature deaths from 2008 to 2018 in California. According to its authors, this is the first long-term study to evaluate deaths caused by years of increased exposure to wildfire smoke in a state that, like other Western states, is experiencing more frequent and more dangerous wildfires.

Exposure to smoke harms adolescents’ mental health

Researchers in University of Colorado Boulder found that wildfire smoke increases the risk of mental health challenges in teens. the He studiesThe researchers, who published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in September, analyzed data from 10,000 teens who participated in the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States, according to the university. Every additional day children were exposed to “unsafe” air quality readings in 2016 increased their likelihood of experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety — even one year later.

Years of firefighting can lead to neurodegenerative diseases

Lab rats are not humans, of course. But in a controlled environment, it can provide useful insight into the consequences for human health. Researchers who exposed rats to an amount of smoke equivalent to what a wildland firefighter breathes over the course of a 15 to 30 year career. Found They were more susceptible to brain disease than mice that were not exposed. The animals’ gene profiles fit a pattern suggesting long-term damage similar to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Adam Schuler, lead author of the study, said that while researchers cannot prove that smoke is the direct cause of the higher risk of disease, Boise State Public Radio Wildland firefighters need to be aware of the impact a long career in firefighting can have on the human brain.

Wildfire smoke is linked to dementia

Inhaling particles found in air pollution has already been linked to an increased risk of dementia. Now, researchers say, wildfire smoke may pose a greater risk than other sources of pollution. Analysis of more than 1.2 million people in Southern California Found Exposure to wildfire smoke over a long period — three years, in this study — was associated with an increased risk of a dementia diagnosis. According to the study, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, the odds of being diagnosed with dementia rose by 18 percent for every microgram per cubic meter increase in wildfire pollution over three years, a relatively small amount. to comparisonaverage exposure to PM2.5 particles in the census tract near the 2018 Camp Fire in California was 1.2 micrograms per cubic meter between 2006 and 2020, rising to an exposure of 310 micrograms per cubic meter during the actual fire.