Dataset Information

The COVID-19-wildfire smoke paradox: Reduced risk of all-cause mortality due to wildfire smoke in Colorado during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In 2020, the American West faced two competing challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst wildfire season on record. Several studies have investigated the impact of wildfire smoke (WFS) on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, but little is known about how these two public health challenges impact mortality risk for other causes.

Objectives

Using a time-series design, we evaluated how daily risk of mortality due to WFS exposure differed for periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Our study included daily data for 11 counties in the Front Range region of Colorado (2010-2020). We assessed WFS exposure using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and used mortality counts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. We estimated the interaction between WFS and the pandemic (an indicator variable) on mortality risk using generalized additive models adjusted for year, day of week, fine particulate matter, ozone, temperature, and a smoothed term for day of year.

Results

WFS impacted the study area on 10% of county-days. We observed a positive association between the presence of WFS and all-cause mortality risk (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.03, 95%CI: 1.01-1.04 for same-day exposures) during the period before the pandemic; however, WFS exposure during the pandemic resulted in decreased risk of all-cause mortality (IRR = 0.90, 95%CI: 0.87-0.93 for same-day exposures).

Discussion

We hypothesize that mitigation efforts during the first year of the pandemic, e.g., mask mandates, along with high ambient WFS levels encouraged health behaviors that reduced exposure to WFS and reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Our results suggest a need to examine how associations between WFS and mortality are impacted by pandemic-related factors and that there may be lessons from the pandemic that could be translated into health-protective policies during future wildfire events.

SUBMITTER: Martenies SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9985917 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The COVID-19-wildfire smoke paradox: Reduced risk of all-cause mortality due to wildfire smoke in Colorado during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Martenies Sheena E SE Wilson Ander A Hoskovec Lauren L Bol Kirk A KA Burket Tori L TL Podewils Laura Jean LJ Magzamen Sheryl S

Environmental research 20230305

<h4>Background</h4>In 2020, the American West faced two competing challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst wildfire season on record. Several studies have investigated the impact of wildfire smoke (WFS) on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, but little is known about how these two public health challenges impact mortality risk for other causes.<h4>Objectives</h4>Using a time-series design, we evaluated how daily risk of mortality due to WFS exposure differed for periods before and during th ...[more]

PMID: 36878268

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Project description:BackgroundSocioeconomic differences in the impact of alcohol consumption on health have been consistently reported in the so-called "alcohol harm paradox" (i.e., individuals from higher socioeconomic backgrounds (SES) drink more alcohol than individuals from lower SES, but the latter accrue more alcohol-related harm). Despite the severe health risks of smoking however, there is a scarcity of studies examining a possible "smoking harm paradox" (SHP). We aim to fill this gap.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study with adolescents from the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study (NLHB). Our study used data from ages 13 to 30 years. To analyse our data, we used the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with smoking and self-reported health as mutual lagged predictors and outcomes as well as parental income and education as grouping variables. Parental income and education were used as proxies for adolescent socioeconomic status (SES). Smoking was examined through frequency of smoking (every day, every week, less than once a week, not at all). General health compared to others was measured by self-report.ResultsOverall, we found inconclusive evidence of the smoking harm paradox, as not all effects from smoking to self-reported health were moderated by SES. Nevertheless, the findings do suggest that smoking predicted worse subjective health over time among individuals in the lower parental education group compared with those in the higher parental education group. This pattern was not found for parental income.ConclusionsWhile our results suggest limited evidence for a smoking harm paradox (SHP), they also suggest that the impact of adolescent smoking on later subjective health is significant for individuals with low parental education but not individuals with high parental education. This effect was not found for parental income, highlighting the potential influence of parental education over income as a determinant of subjective health outcomes in relation to smoking.

Dataset Information

The COVID-19-wildfire smoke paradox: Reduced risk of all-cause mortality due to wildfire smoke in Colorado during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

The COVID-19-wildfire smoke paradox: Reduced risk of all-cause mortality due to wildfire smoke in Colorado during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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