Health Effects of Wildfire Smoke Exposure

2023/09/22 by Carlos Gould, Carlos F. Gould, Sam Heft‐Neal +7 · 149 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Environmental Science · Medicine · #Air pollution #Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols #Ecology #Environmental health #Environmental science #Fire dynamics and safety research #Fire effects on ecosystems #Geography #Health effect #Medicine #Meteorology #Smoke

paper · pdf · doi:10.1146/annurev-med-052422-020909

published in Annual Review of Medicine 75(1), 277-292 (Annual Reviews)

openalex publication_date 2023/09/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

We review current knowledge on the trends and drivers of global wildfire activity, advances in the measurement of wildfire smoke exposure, and evidence on the health effects of this exposure. We describe methodological issues in estimating the causal effects of wildfire smoke exposures on health and quantify their importance, emphasizing the role of nonlinear and lagged effects. We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the health effects of wildfire smoke exposure, finding positive impacts on all-cause mortality and respiratory hospitalizations but less consistent evidence on cardiovascular morbidity. We conclude by highlighting priority areas for future research, including leveraging recently developed spatially and temporally resolved wildfire-specific ambient air pollution data to improve estimates of the health effects of wildfire smoke exposure.

Citations

• Exposures and behavioural responses to wildfire smoke

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