Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA
Forest fire activity has been increasing in California. Satellite imagery data along with ground level measurements of PM<sub>2.5</sub> have been previously used to determine the presence and level of smoke. In this study, emergency room visits for asthma are explored for the impacts of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/4/159 |
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| author | Donald Schweizer Haiganoush Preisler Marcela Entwistle Hamed Gharibi Ricardo Cisneros |
| author_facet | Donald Schweizer Haiganoush Preisler Marcela Entwistle Hamed Gharibi Ricardo Cisneros |
| author_sort | Donald Schweizer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest fire activity has been increasing in California. Satellite imagery data along with ground level measurements of PM<sub>2.5</sub> have been previously used to determine the presence and level of smoke. In this study, emergency room visits for asthma are explored for the impacts of wildland smoke over the entire state of California for the years 2008–2015. Smoke events included extreme high-intensity fire and smoke along with low and moderate smoke events. The presence of wildland fire smoke detected by remote sensing significantly increased fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) and significantly increased the odds of exceeding expected concentrations of PM<sub>2.5</sub> at ground level. Smoke observed above a monitoring site increases the chance of PM<sub>2.5</sub> exceeding 35 µg m<sup>−3</sup> (odds ratio 114 (87–150) when high levels of smoke are detected). The strength of association of an asthma emergency room visit is increased with higher PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations. The odds ratios (OR) are highest for asthma hospital visits when daily mean PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations experienced exceed 35 µg m<sup>−3</sup> for multiple days (OR 1.38 (1.21–1.57) with 3 days). Nonetheless, on days with wildland fire smoke, the association of an emergency room visit for asthma due to PM<sub>2.5</sub> is not observed. Further study is needed to confirm these findings and determine if this is a product of smoke avoidance and reduction of personal exposure during smoke episodes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:02:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6c105827cb424be8a3e09189814a3500 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:02:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-6c105827cb424be8a3e09189814a35002023-11-17T19:12:00ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552023-04-016415910.3390/fire6040159Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USADonald Schweizer0Haiganoush Preisler1Marcela Entwistle2Hamed Gharibi3Ricardo Cisneros4Health Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USAUSDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, 800 Buchanan St., WAB, Albany, CA 94706, USAHealth Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USAHealth Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USAHealth Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USAForest fire activity has been increasing in California. Satellite imagery data along with ground level measurements of PM<sub>2.5</sub> have been previously used to determine the presence and level of smoke. In this study, emergency room visits for asthma are explored for the impacts of wildland smoke over the entire state of California for the years 2008–2015. Smoke events included extreme high-intensity fire and smoke along with low and moderate smoke events. The presence of wildland fire smoke detected by remote sensing significantly increased fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) and significantly increased the odds of exceeding expected concentrations of PM<sub>2.5</sub> at ground level. Smoke observed above a monitoring site increases the chance of PM<sub>2.5</sub> exceeding 35 µg m<sup>−3</sup> (odds ratio 114 (87–150) when high levels of smoke are detected). The strength of association of an asthma emergency room visit is increased with higher PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations. The odds ratios (OR) are highest for asthma hospital visits when daily mean PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations experienced exceed 35 µg m<sup>−3</sup> for multiple days (OR 1.38 (1.21–1.57) with 3 days). Nonetheless, on days with wildland fire smoke, the association of an emergency room visit for asthma due to PM<sub>2.5</sub> is not observed. Further study is needed to confirm these findings and determine if this is a product of smoke avoidance and reduction of personal exposure during smoke episodes.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/4/159HMS smokeparticulate matterrespiratorywildfireasthma |
| spellingShingle | Donald Schweizer Haiganoush Preisler Marcela Entwistle Hamed Gharibi Ricardo Cisneros Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA Fire HMS smoke particulate matter respiratory wildfire asthma |
| title | Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA |
| title_full | Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA |
| title_fullStr | Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA |
| title_short | Using a Statistical Model to Estimate the Effect of Wildland Fire Smoke on Ground Level PM<sub>2.5</sub> and Asthma in California, USA |
| title_sort | using a statistical model to estimate the effect of wildland fire smoke on ground level pm sub 2 5 sub and asthma in california usa |
| topic | HMS smoke particulate matter respiratory wildfire asthma |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/6/4/159 |
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