Dataset Information

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California.

ABSTRACT: Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive in a changing climate. Fine particulate matter, PM_2.5, in wildfire smoke adversely impacts human health. Recent toxicological studies suggest that wildfire particulate matter may be more toxic than equal doses of ambient PM_2.5. Air quality regulations however assume that the toxicity of PM_2.5 does not vary across different sources of emission. Assessing whether PM_2.5 from wildfires is more or less harmful than PM_2.5 from other sources is a pressing public health concern. Here, we isolate the wildfire-specific PM_2.5 using a series of statistical approaches and exposure definitions. We found increases in respiratory hospitalizations ranging from 1.3 to up to 10% with a 10 μg m^-3 increase in wildfire-specific PM_2.5, compared to 0.67 to 1.3% associated with non-wildfire PM_2.5. Our conclusions point to the need for air quality policies to consider the variability in PM_2.5 impacts on human health according to the sources of emission.

SUBMITTER: Aguilera R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7935892 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California.

Aguilera Rosana R Corringham Thomas T Gershunov Alexander A Benmarhnia Tarik T

Nature communications 20210305 1

Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive in a changing climate. Fine particulate matter, PM2.5, in wildfire smoke adversely impacts human health. Recent toxicological studies suggest that wildfire particulate matter may be more toxic than equal doses of ambient PM2.5. Air quality regulations however assume that the toxicity of PM2.5 does not vary across different sources of emission. Assessing whether PM2.5 from wildfires is more or less ha ...[more]

PMID: 33674571

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Project description:BackgroundA few studies have reported associations between traffic-related air pollution exposure at schools and cognitive development. The role of PM components or sources other than traffic on cognitive development has been little explored.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore the role of PM sources in school air on cognitive development.MethodsA cohort of 2,618 schoolchildren (average age, 8.5 years) belonging to 39 schools in Barcelona (Spain) was followed up for a year. Children completed computerized tests assessing working memory, superior working memory, and inattentiveness during four visits. Particulate matter ? 2.5 ?m (PM2.5) was measured during two 1-week campaigns in each school, both outdoors and in the classroom. Source apportionment resulted in nine sources: mineral, organic/textile/chalk, traffic, secondary sulfate and organics, secondary nitrate, road dust, metallurgy, sea spray, and heavy oil combustion. Differences in cognitive growth trajectories were assessed with mixed models with age-by-source interaction terms.ResultsAn interquartile range increase in indoor traffic-related PM2.5 was associated with reductions in cognitive growth equivalent to 22% (95% CI: 2%, 42%) of the annual change in working memory, 30% (95% CI: 6%, 54%) of the annual change in superior working memory, and 11% (95% CI: 0%, 22%) of the annual change in the inattentiveness scale. None of the other PM2.5 sources was associated with adverse effects on cognitive development.ConclusionsTraffic was the only source of fine particles associated with a reduction in cognitive development. Reducing air pollution from traffic at primary schools may result in beneficial effects on cognition.CitationBasagaña X, Esnaola M, Rivas I, Amato F, Alvarez-Pedrerol M, Forns J, López-Vicente M, Pujol J, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Querol X, Sunyer J. 2016. Neurodevelopmental deceleration by urban fine particles from different emission sources: a longitudinal observational study. Environ Health Perspect 124:1630-1636;?http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP209.

Dataset Information

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California.

Publications

Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California.

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