Feb 3, 2021 01:47 AM
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-wildfire-m...teria.html
INTRO: When wildfires roar through a forest and bulldozers dig into the earth to stop advancing flames, they may be churning more into the air than just clouds of dust and smoke, scientists say. Those dark, billowing plumes of smoke that rise on waves of heat during the day and sink into valleys as the night air cools may be transporting countless living microbes that can seep into our lungs or cling to our skin and clothing, according to research published recently in Science. In some cases, researchers fear that airborne pathogens could sicken firefighters or downwind residents.
"We were inspired to write this because we recognize that there are many trillions of microbes in smoke that haven't really been incorporated in an understanding ... of human health," said Leda Kobziar, the University of Idaho's wildland fire science director. "At this point, it's really unknown. The diversity of microbes that we've found are really mind-bending."
As this recent fire seasons suggests, the need to understand what's in the wildfire smoke we can't help but breathe and how it may affect us has never been more pronounced, but scientists say we are seriously behind the curve. Wildfires burned across more than 10.2 million acres of the United States in 2020, federal statistics show, including some 4.2 million acres in California, where a greater number of residents were exposed to smoke for a longer period of time than ever before.
Wildfire smoke now accounts for up to half of all fine-particle pollution in the Western U.S., according to researchers. Although there are many studies on the long-term impacts to human health from urban air pollution and short-term impacts from wildfire smoke, there's little known about the multitude of ways the latter can hurt us over a lifetime.
"Frankly, we don't really know about the long-term effects of wildfire smoke because community exposures haven't been long-term before," said Dr. John Balmes, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco and a member of the California Air Resources Board. But humans—and Californians in particular—should expect to inhale more wildfire smoke in the future... (MORE)
INTRO: When wildfires roar through a forest and bulldozers dig into the earth to stop advancing flames, they may be churning more into the air than just clouds of dust and smoke, scientists say. Those dark, billowing plumes of smoke that rise on waves of heat during the day and sink into valleys as the night air cools may be transporting countless living microbes that can seep into our lungs or cling to our skin and clothing, according to research published recently in Science. In some cases, researchers fear that airborne pathogens could sicken firefighters or downwind residents.
"We were inspired to write this because we recognize that there are many trillions of microbes in smoke that haven't really been incorporated in an understanding ... of human health," said Leda Kobziar, the University of Idaho's wildland fire science director. "At this point, it's really unknown. The diversity of microbes that we've found are really mind-bending."
As this recent fire seasons suggests, the need to understand what's in the wildfire smoke we can't help but breathe and how it may affect us has never been more pronounced, but scientists say we are seriously behind the curve. Wildfires burned across more than 10.2 million acres of the United States in 2020, federal statistics show, including some 4.2 million acres in California, where a greater number of residents were exposed to smoke for a longer period of time than ever before.
Wildfire smoke now accounts for up to half of all fine-particle pollution in the Western U.S., according to researchers. Although there are many studies on the long-term impacts to human health from urban air pollution and short-term impacts from wildfire smoke, there's little known about the multitude of ways the latter can hurt us over a lifetime.
"Frankly, we don't really know about the long-term effects of wildfire smoke because community exposures haven't been long-term before," said Dr. John Balmes, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco and a member of the California Air Resources Board. But humans—and Californians in particular—should expect to inhale more wildfire smoke in the future... (MORE)
