Study: Wildfire smoke worse than car pollution for the lungs

2021 wildfire risk map from Wildfirerisk.org
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Wildfires are more harmful to human lungs than many other sources of air pollution, including car exhaust. That's according to newly published research from the University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "The research, published in the journal Nature Communications Friday, paints a worrisome picture for Americans living on a fire-prone continent, especially as climate change amplifies fire risk worldwide," Nathan Rott reports for NPR.

Air pollution has been decreasing in some parts of the U.S., but not in wildfire-prone areas, according to study co-author Rosana Aguilera. "Aguilera and co-author Tom Corringham looked at hospital-admissions data over 14 years in Southern California and compared that to spikes in air pollution during strong wind events," Rott reports. "They found that pollutants from wildfire smoke caused up to a 10 percent increase in hospital admissions."

Air conditions were especially bad last year, when wildfire smoke blanketed many areas of the U.S. "An NPR analysis of air quality on the West Coast found that one in seven residents experienced at least one day of unhealthy air conditions last year," Rott reports. "For weeks, the smoke was so thick in parts of Oregon, Washington and California that public health officials urged people to stay indoors and avoid physical activities."

The recent uptick in wildfire activity makes the findings all the more concerning, Corringham said. "We're pretty aware of the physical costs of wildfire, in terms of firefighting costs and damage to property," Corringham told Rott. "But there's been a lot of work that has shown that the health impacts due to wildfire smoke are on the same order of magnitude, or possibly even greater, than the direct physical cost." In addition to wider action to mitigate global warming, which increases the risk of wildfires, Corringham suggests improved air-monitoring systems and public-health programs, as well as financial aid for at-risk populations and low-income households to purchase air filters.