Review of the health effects of wildland fire smoke on wildland firefighters and the public

Abstract

Each year, the general public and wildland firefighters in the US are exposed to smoke from wildland fires. As part of an effort to characterize health risks of breathing this smoke, a review of the literature was conducted using five major databases, including PubMed and MEDLINE Web of Knowledge, to identify smoke components that present the highest hazard potential, the mechanisms of toxicity, review epidemiological studies for health effects and identify the current gap in knowledge on the health impacts of wildland fire smoke exposure. Respiratory events measured in time series studies as incidences of disease-caused mortality, hospital admissions, emergency room visits and symptoms in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are the health effects that are most commonly associated with community level exposure to wildland fire smoke. A few recent studies have also determined associations between acute wildland fire smoke exposure and cardiovascular health end-points. These cardiopulmonary effects were mostly observed in association with ambient air concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, research on the health effects of this mixture is currently limited. The health effects of acute exposures beyond susceptible populations and the effects of chronic exposures experienced by the wildland firefighter are largely unknown. Longitudinal studies of wildland firefighters during and/or after the firefighting career could help elucidate some of the unknown health impacts of cumulative exposure to wildland fire smoke, establish occupational exposure limits and help determine the types of exposure controls that may be applicable to the occupation.

Air quality policy and fire management responses addressing smoke from wildland fires in the United States and Australia

“…Given the increasing evidence of smoke-related health effects (Rappold et al 2012;Liu et al 2015;Adetona et al 2016), wildland fire emissions will likely continue to be regulated to support public health. However, future policies are also likely to address wildland impacts on GHG emissions and radiative forcing.…”

“…particulate matter, carbonaceous and nitrogenous species, and ozone precursors) (Komarek 1971;Reisen et al 2015) that affect atmospheric chemistry and air quality at local, regional and global scales (Damoah et al 2004;Sodemann et al 2011;US EPA 2012). Unlike emissions from industry and transportation, wildland fire emissions are spatially and temporally episodic and they can impair visibility and have negative short-and long-term impacts on public health (Crutzen and Andreae 1990;Bowman et al 2009;Liu et al 2015;Adetona et al 2016). Thus, although wildland fires are inevitable and have an essential role in many terrestrial ecosystems, the smoke produced by these fires is a considerable societal concern (Bowman et al 2009;Smith et al 2016).…”

Exposición al humo de incendios forestales y mortalidad en Valencia

“…El humo procedente de incendios forestales es una mezcla compleja que contiene cientos de componentes tanto en fase particulada como en fase gaseosa (Adetona et al 2016). Su producción y composición depende de distintos factores.…”

“…También pueden encontrarse presentes compuestos orgánicos persistentes, como dioxinas y furanos, radionucleidos secundarios derivados del radón, bifenilos policlorados y plaguicidas (Adetona et al 2016). Por sus potenciales efectos en la salud, los contaminantes que generan una mayor preocupación son las partículas finas, el CO, el mercurio, el O 3 , los gases traza y los compuestos orgánicos volátiles (COV) y las mezclas tóxicas de contaminantes (Durán 2014).…”

“…La mayor parte de la evidencia sobre los efectos respiratorios de la exposición al humo de incendios proviene de estudios ecológicos, se han encontrado resultados positivos en estudios de cohortes para síntomas de EPOC (enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica) y varios indicadores referentes al empeoramiento de la salud en personas asmáticas (Adetona et al 2016). …”