With U.S. wildfires increasing in frequency, size and intensity, researchers and public health professionals are focused on the effects of human exposure to wildfire smoke, ensuing poor air quality and fine particulate matter as well as ozone and other pollutants that wildfires generate. Research has established detrimental health effects associated with wildfire smoke exposure. At a population level, exposure is associated with an increase in chronic respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. There also is growing evidence that wildfire smoke increases cardiovascular events. Joseph Domitrovich will share findings from a comprehensive review of smoke exposure data based on wildland firefighters frequently exposed to wildfire smoke. In addition to better understanding the effects on those most likely to be exposed, researchers are seeking to understand effects on children, pregnant women and other vulnerable populations. Lisa Miller will present new research that can inform the impact of acute wildfire exposure early in life, the lifelong effects of which are currently unknown for humans. Miller has studied rhesus macaque monkeys exposed to smoke as juveniles during a 2008 wildfire in California, finding that they had smaller, stiffer lungs and evidence of immune system problems, a dysfunction also found in their offspring. New understandings of the health effects of wildfire smoke are being used to improve public health interventions and develop approaches to communicating health risks. Wayne Cascio will provide an overview of resources currently available, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Smoke-Ready Toolbox for Wildfires, which includes information on the status of fires and trainings for health professionals and public health practitioners. Cascio also will point out knowledge gaps in need of future research to help professionals better protect the public from the adverse health effects of wildfire smoke.
Joseph Domitrovich, exercise physiologist, U.S. Forest Service, Missoula, Montana
Clinical Symptoms Associated with Wildfire Smoke Exposure
Lisa Miller, professor of anatomy, physiology and cell biology, University of California, Davis
Long-Term Health Outcomes of Early-Life Wildfire Smoke Exposure in a Nonhuman Primate
Wayne Cascio, director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Public Health Implications of Wildland Fire Smoke and Communicating Risk
