Public Health Implications of Wildland Fire Smoke and Communicating Risk
Citation:
Cascio, W. Public Health Implications of Wildland Fire Smoke and Communicating Risk. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Seattle, Washington, February 14 - 15, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
The presentation will inform the audience at the American Association for the Advancement of Science about the current state of public health impacts of wildfire smoke and the broad approach of the US EPA’s Office of Research and Development to work with other federal, state and local agencies to improve risk communication and to apply social sciences for the development of more effective communication.
Description:
The presentation describes the public health impact of wildland fire smoke exposures, the strategies to minimize risk, and knowledge gaps that when filled, will help health officials better protect the public during wildland fires. The presentation highlights resources available for public health practitioners and health care professionals to protect the public and patients. Epidemiology studies conducted over the last 10 years show that exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with worsening of respiratory conditions such as COPD and asthma. There is growing evidence that wildfire smoke exposure triggers heart attacks and abnormal heart rhythms and worsens heart failure. Children and pregnant women are also at higher risk. Today information produced by state and federal agencies can be found in one location, i.e. EPA’s Smoke-Ready Toolbox for Wildfires. On this page you can find: (1) links to smoke and health information including AirNow, Smoke Advisories, Fires and Your Health, Smoke Sense App, and others; (2) current fire information such as location of current fires, current fire incident information system, NOAA Smoke Forecast Tool and Fire Weather Outlook, and more; (3) information for health professionals including free on-line training on “Wildfire Smoke and Your Patients’ Health” and the 2019 Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials and the accompanying Health Fact Sheets, as well as other health care professional resources; and (4) various other resources including State and Local Government Resources, other Federal Government Resources, Wildland Fire Research Fact Sheets, Health Fact Sheets, and Infographics on using a respirator and reducing health risks. Even though we know much more today than just a decade ago, important knowledge gaps still limit our ability to fully protect the population from the adverse health effects of wildfire smoke. Future research should define more accurately populations at higher risk, improve effective communication of risk and dissemination of information on protective actions. The utility of respirators, home HEPA filtering, and cleaner indoor public spaces needs to be resolved. More studies are needed to assess the health impacts of prescribed fire, and the components of wildfire emissions as compared to wildfire. Improved air quality modeling, monitoring and reporting is needed. We also need to learn more about long-term health effects of repeated low-level exposures, compared to higher exposures but for shorter duration, and exposures of long duration lasting weeks to months.