Wildfires in the U.S. and Canada Remind Us That Health Impacts Defy Borders

Newswise — NEW YORK, NY (Aug. 14, 2024) –Wildfire season is upon us and again communities in some parts of the U.S. and Canada are battling devastating fires that threaten the health of everyone, especially individuals with lung disease. According to the National Interagency fire Center, as of this morning, 75 large wildfires are being managed nationwide.

While people who live in areas prone to wildfires must be especially vigilant, last summer’s haze and smoke in places like NYC showed us that the risk from wildfire smoke is is not limited to those within a state or country’s borders.

In 2023, the ATS and the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University the Health of the Air Report, which provided the first-ever local and national estimates of the health impacts specifically attributable to air pollution from wildland fires. Funding from NASA, through the Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team (HAQAST), allowed for the inclusion of this critical source of pollution into the health analysis.

The health impacts from wildland fires are not only a problem in the western and southern parts of the United States, where most of the wildland fires impacts are expected, but impact people living across the country. "Although the megafires are more newsworthy, air quality and health burdens from wildland fires are also driven by the cumulative impacts from the many smaller fires that are burning on any given day across North America," said Daniel Tong, PhD, associate professor at George Mason University and a member of NASA HAQAST.

The American Thoracic Society has long advocated for revisions to national air quality standards to address air pollution.  Without more health protective standards such as those recommended by the ATS, we will continue to see increased illness and mortality. However, wildfires are considered exceptional events and therefore air pollution resulting from wildfires is not regulated by the Clean Air Act. “Evidence suggests that air pollution from wildfires has reduced, and in some states particularly in the western United States, reversed many of the air quality improvements achieved by the Clean Air Act,” said Alison Lee, MD, chair, ATS Environmental Health Policy Committee. “The changing climate means that wildfires will continue to be more frequent and more intense, increasing risk for morbidity and mortality.”