Wildfire Air Pollution Could Lead to Respiratory, Cardiovascular Risks for Older Adults

Findings come as global climate change continues to increase wildfire risks.

Research has long linked air pollution from wildfires to a large number of health side effects, with new data also warning that exposure can increase a person’s risk of being hospitalized.

According to findings published in the journal JAMA Network Open on April 30, people who had increased exposure to certain types of air pollution from wildfires face a higher risk of hospitalization for respiratory problems.

Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, led by Sofia L. Vega, focused the study on smoke specific concentrations of fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) and its effects on human health.

PM 2.5 is a combination of tiny particles of dirt, soot and water less than 70 micrometers in size, or smaller than the width of a single human hair. It has long been implicated in a number of side effects.

The research team used data from more than 10.3 million in-patient claims from Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older from 2006 to 2016. They linked that data with machine learning-derived smoke-specific PM 2.5 concentrations in wildfires in the western United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

There were more than 4.7 million unscheduled hospitalizations linked to wildfires in those states, researchers found, with hospitalizations increasing when concentrations of PM 2.5 increased above 25 μg/m³.

The data also indicated that daily hospitalizations increased by 2.4 per 100,000 patients for respiratory concerns when PM 2.5 concentrations in smoke increased from 0 to 40 μg/m³ on the same day and over the preceding week of smoke measurements.

Hospitalizations for cardiovascular conditions also increased by 3.61 per 100,000 people, according to the findings. However, researchers noted this was not statistically significant. There were no increases in hospitalizations for other types of conditions.

Researchers concluded the data showed smoke pollution from wildfires was positively linked to an increase in respiratory hospitalizations for problems including asthma, wheezing, bronchitis, trouble breathing, clots in the lungs, infections, and other emergencies with the potential to escalate into serious health risks.

“These findings suggest that exposure to high concentrations of smoke pollution may be associated with respiratory, and possibly cardiovascular, health risks in older adults,” the researchers determined.

They called for more focus on interventions and regulations to help reduce exposures to air pollution from wildfires.

Wildfire Air Pollution Concerns

Prior research has linked wildfire smoke exposure to an increased risk of dying among patients already diagnosed with lung cancer. The pollution in the wildfire smoke worsens the outlook for patients already struggling with lung issues.

Additionally, firefighters who fight woodland fires are consistently exposed to dozens of cancer-causing chemicals that put them at a higher risk of developing cancer and other fatal health conditions.

The effects of climate change and record-breaking heat waves increase the number of wildfires in the U.S. and expose communities to harmful air. Poor and minority communities suffer the effects of air pollution more than other populations, research has shown.