There’s something in the air…
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Wildfire season is over, but the air still feels thick.
Tingting Ye and team from Monash University in Australia were concerned. Could small particles in the air be harmful even months after a wildfire?
They focused on five hundred regions across Brazil, the most wildfire-prone area on earth. Researchers compared daily mortality data with fine particulates from wildfires over sixteen years.
The correlation? Just a small rise in wildfire smoke increased deaths by over three percent. Most of these were from heart and lung problems. Older adults and women were hit hardest.
Just ask Smokey – there’s a right way and a wrong way, to wipe your ash.
Reference: Ye, T., Xu, R., Yue, X. et al. Short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM2.5 increases mortality risks and burdens in Brazil. Nat Commun 13, 7651 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35326-x