Over 50,000 Californians Died Prematurely In A Decade Due To Exposure To Wildfire Smoke Toxic Particles

(Photo : Getty Images/Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

A recent study found that over 50,000 people in California had died prematurely over the course of a decade as a result of being exposed to harmful particles in wildfire smoke.

Premature Fatalities

Every year, millions of dollars' worth of damage and even fatalities result from the scorching of vast tracts of grassland and forest in California and other parts of the nation.

However, more harm than good is done to the surrounding community by the particulate matter generated by the fires, according to researchers, than by the number of deaths directly related to them.

Smoke from wildfires contains PM2.5, which are minuscule particles around one-thirteenth the size of a human hair that can get deeply embedded in the lungs and reach the bloodstream. Particles have been linked to a number of illnesses and early mortality. According to earlier studies, the smoke from wildfires is exposing millions of Americans to this dangerous contaminant.

The researchers examined the effects of exposure to wildfire PM2.5 between 2008 and 2018-a time frame that includes some of the state's deadliest and most destructive fire seasons-using a novel epidemiological model.

The study found that there were at least 52,480 premature fatalities linked to exposure to inhalable particulate matter from wildfires, as well as at least $432 billion in medical costs related to the exposure.

According to the study's author, Rachel Connolly, this is the first study to evaluate the long-term effects of chronic exposure to PM2.5, primarily from wildfires.

The findings have significant ramifications for California. According to the study, wildfires cause more fatalities and have a bigger financial impact than earlier research has suggested.

"The findings are really a call to action for forest management and climate change mitigation," said Connolly, who is the project director at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and also works within the Fielding School of Public Health.

Effects Of PM2.5

The effects of PM2.5 exposure on human health are still largely unknown, however, the particles can deteriorate pre-existing medical diseases, such as heart disease and respiratory issues, and impair lung function.

According to the study, wildfire-related particulate matter can be more hazardous to human health than particulate matter from other sources and is linked to respiratory ailments and a rise in hospital admissions. Previous research has connected the inhalation of smoke from wildfires to elevated chances of cardiac arrests and preterm deliveries.

Recent years have witnessed a number of terrible fires in California, including a particularly deadly season in 2020 that left 31 people dead and caused the skies in the American West to turn a frightening orange, exposing 25 million people to the poisonous smoke from the fires.

Scientists and experts have linked years of incorrect fire suppression tactics, improper forest management techniques, and a hotter, drier landscape brought on by the climate catastrophe to the rising ferocity of wildfires. Dozens have perished in the disasters, which have also damaged villages and exposed millions to smoke from wildfires.

"The importance of wildfire management will only grow in the coming decades as aridification intensifies with climate change and more regions become susceptible to fires," the authors write in the study.