Aguilera, R., Luo, N., Basu, R., Wu, J., Clemesha, R., Gershunov, A., & Benmarhnia, T. (2023). A novel ensemble-based statistical approach to estimate daily wildfire-specific PM2.5 in California (2006-2020). Environment international, 171, 107719. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107719
Main Findings: An ensemble model was used to generate daily wildfire-specific PM2.5 at the ZIP code level for a 15-year period (2006-2020). These datasets offer a relevant spatiotemporal resolution and make a timely contribution to epidemiological studies.
Heaney, A., Stowell, J. D., Liu, J. C., Basu, R., Marlier, M., & Kinney, P. (2022). Impacts of Fine Particulate Matter From Wildfire Smoke on Respiratory and Cardiovascular Health in California. GeoHealth, 6(6), e2021GH000578. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GH000578
Main Findings: Smoke event days, which is defined days with high levels of wildfire PM2.5, increased the risk of respiratory hospital admissions, with particularly profound effects among children aged 0-5 years. Smoke event days have also been found to increase the risks of cardiovascular hospital admissions among non-Hispanic White individuals and those older than 65 years, and this risk is particularly high in conjunction with high temperature days.
Schwarz, L., Dimitrova, A., Aguilera, R., Basu, R., Gershunov, A., & Benmarhnia, T. (2022). Smoke and COVID-19 case fatality ratios during California wildfires. Environmental Research Letters, 17(1), 014054. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4538
Main Findings: The study found that COVID-19 case fatality ratios (CFRs) increased during wildfire events in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2020. The findings suggest that extreme weather events such as wildfire smoke can increase vulnerability to infectious diseases.
Malig, B. J., Fairley, D., Pearson, D., Wu, X., Ebisu, K., & Basu, R. (2021). Examining fine particulate matter and cause-specific morbidity during the 2017 North San Francisco Bay wildfires. The Science of the total environment, 787, 147507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147507
Main Findings: During the October 2017 Northern California wildfire period, short-term exposure to PM2.5 increased the risk of emergency room visits and hospital admissions for respiratory disease, such as asthma. The effects during wildfire period were stronger than non-wildfire period.
Holm, S. M., Miller, M. D., & Balmes, J. R. (2021). Health effects of wildfire smoke in children and public health tools: a narrative review. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 31(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-020-00267-4
Main Findings: Children remain especially vulnerable to wildfire smoke for both physiological and behavioral reasons. This review summarizes current knowledge and knowledge gaps in the health effects of wildfire smoke in children and identifies tools for public health response aimed at children, including consideration of low-cost sensor data, respirators, and exposures in school environments. Surgical masks, respirators, and better filtration systems at school can help alleviate some of the risk wildfire smoke poses for children.
Liu, J. C., Wilson, A., Mickley, L. J., Dominici, F., Ebisu, K., Wang, Y., Sulprizio, M. P., Peng, R. D., Yue, X., Son, J. Y., Anderson, G. B., & Bell, M. L. (2017). Wildfire-specific Fine Particulate Matter and Risk of Hospital Admissions in Urban and Rural Counties. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.), 28(1), 77–85. https://doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000000556
Main Findings: Among Medicare enrollees in the Western U.S., smoke wave events were associated with found to increase the risk of respiratory hospital admissions when compared to non-smoke wave days. Specifically, PM2.5 from wildfires may contain a higher concentration of toxic chemicals constituents than PM2.5 from other sources.
Liu, J. C., Wilson, A., Mickley, L. J., Ebisu, K., Sulprizio, M. P., Wang, Y., Peng, R. D., Yue, X., Dominici, F., & Bell, M. L. (2017). Who Among the Elderly Is Most Vulnerable to Exposure to and Health Risks of Fine Particulate Matter From Wildfire Smoke?. American journal of epidemiology, 186(6), 730–735. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwx141
Main Findings: Between 2004 and 2009, higher proportions of people who were black, lived in urban counties in California were more likely to be exposed to smoke waves in the Western U.S. Additionally, the risk of respiratory admissions from wildfire smoke was significantly higher for women compared to men (10.4% vs. 3.7%) and for black people compared to white people (21.7% vs. 6.9%).
Liu, J. C., Mickley, L. J., Sulprizio, M. P., Dominici, F., Yue, X., Ebisu, K., Anderson, G. B., Khan, R. F. A., Bravo, M. A., & Bell, M. L. (2016). Particulate Air Pollution from Wildfires in the Western US under Climate Change. Climatic change, 138(3), 655–666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1762-6
Main Findings: In the future climate change (2046-2051) in the Western U.S., over 82 million people are estimated to experience a 57% increase in the frequency and a 31% increase in the intensity of smoke waves, defined as high levels of wildfire-specific PM2.5.
Darling R, Hansen K, Aguilera R, Basu R, Benmarhnia T, Letellier N. The burden of wildfire smoke on respiratory health in California: A Health Impact Assessment at the zip code level. Submitted to Environmental Research: Health.
Main Findings: A health impact assessment was carried out to evaluate the effects of PM2.5 on respiratory hospitalizations in California between 2006 and 2019. The study's findings indicate that the health impact of hospitalizations attributable to PM2.5 may be underestimated by not accounting for the PM2.5 generated by wildfires.
