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Wildfire events have increased in frequency and severity across the United States in recent decades. While a growing literature has documented the effects of wildfire smoke exposure on a wide range of health and socioeconomic outcomes, little is known about its impact on consumer behavior and household demand for adaptation in healthcare. We combine a newly developed and digitized dataset on daily wildfire smoke PM2.5 concentrations across the contiguous United States from 2006 to 2019 with weekly NielsenIQ retail scanner data to quantify how wildfire smoke exposure affects retail sales of air purifiers, bottled water, cold remedies, nasal products, cough products, and nutritional products. We find a positive and statistically significant impact of wildfire smoke exposure on the retail sales of these products. Dynamic effects are evident as wildfire smoke exposure in previous weeks also increases current sales. Nonlinear effects arising from the varying intensity of wildfire smoke exposure also reveal distinct patterns of demand for adaptation. We further explore how the effects of wildfire smoke exposure vary with socio-demographic characteristics, focusing on social vulnerability and highlighting the implications of environmental justice. Our results underscore the need for proactive policies to address the increased demand for emergency supplies and healthcare products as household adaptive measures during the wildfire season, particularly targeting socioeconomically vulnerable populations who may be prone to limited access to preventive measures against wildfire smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Fire Ecology is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose of Review: To review the recent literature on the effects of wildfire smoke (WFS) exposure on asthma and allergic disease, and on potential mechanisms of disease. Recent Findings: Spatiotemporal modeling and increased ground-level monitoring data are allowing a more detailed picture of the health effects of WFS exposure to emerge, especially with regard to asthma. There is also epidemiologic and some experimental evidence to suggest that WFS exposure increases allergic predisposition and upper airway or sinonasal disease, though much of the literature in this area is focused more generally on PM2.5 and is not specific for WFS. Experimental evidence for mechanisms includes disruption of epithelial integrity with downstream effects on inflammatory or immune pathways, but experimental models to date have not consistently reflected human disease in this area. Summary: Exposure to WFS has an acute detrimental effect on asthma. Potential mechanisms are suggested by in vitro and animal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the population centres in southeast Australia were swathed in bushfire smoke during the 2019–2020 austral summer. Bushfires burning during what is now known as the Black Summer was historically large and severe, and the fire season historically long. The chemical composition in the gas and aerosol phase of aged plumes measured near Wollongong, NSW in early 2020 is reported in this work. Enhancement ratios to carbon monoxide are presented for thirteen species (acetaldehyde, acetone, acetonitrile, black carbon aerosol, benzene, methane, methacrolein + methyl vinyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketone, methanol, ammonium ion PM1 fraction, nitrate ion PM1 fraction, organic PM1 fraction and PM2.5). Observed plume composition is comparable to that measured in fresh smoke from Australian fires reported in the literature. Enhancements of biogenic volatile organic compounds such as isoprene (smoke-effected period mean 1 ppb, maximum 6 ppb) were observed along with elevated concentrations of particulate variables. Enhancement ratios reported here can be used in plume modelling of landscape-scale fires and assist in concentration estimates of infrequently measured atmospheric pollutants. The relative toxicological contribution of species present in the plumes was determined for plume exposure at the measurement site and for concentrated plumes at a population centre case study. Similar results were apparent at both locations. Contributions to the toxicological loading were dominated by respirable particles (~ 52–63% total contribution), formaldehyde (~ 30–39% total contribution) and acrolein. This is a reminder to consider the toxicological contributions in the gas phase when considering health impacts of population exposure to bushfire smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost every year, First Nations are evacuated in Canada because of wildfire proximity and smoke. Dynamics of wildfires, and remote locations, unique sociocultural characteristics, and limited emergency management resources present challenges for evacuation organizers and residents. This study explores how Dene Tha' First Nation evacuated their Taché community in July 2012 due to wildfire smoke and how the evacuation process affected evacuees. Interviews were completed with 31 evacuation organizers and residents to examine the factors that helped and hindered the evacuation process. Lack of information about the nearby wildfire, smoke, and evacuation of the nearby small community of Zama City, combined with a generic evacuation plan, delayed and posed challenges during the evacuation of this Dene Tha' community. Strong leadership and its role in community organizing, keeping families together, providing the social support they needed, and using familiar host communities, demonstrated and contributed to the community's resilience during the evacuation. Measures to improve evacuations and emergency management in the community and other First Nations in Canada are identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread and persistent summer multi-day episodes of dense wildfire smoke affected western Canada in 2017 and 2018. These events often occurred under otherwise clear-sky, anticyclonic weather conditions and can have significant impacts on surface temperatures, air quality, and surface radiation and energy budgets. Based on upward-pointing lidar observations, vertical temperature soundings and numerical mesoscale modelling for a mountain in south-western British Columbia, Canada, we propose a previously undocumented stability-related impact of wildfire smoke layers on mountain meteorology. This positive feedback (that maintains layer structure and extends the lifetime of layers) appears to suppress mountain "handover processes". Smoke days are characterized by more stable vertical temperature profiles when compared to clear-sky conditions, and are marked by a lack of diurnal variability in boundary-layer structure in lidar backscatter imagery. We expect the processes described to have general application and propose more detailed aerosol modelling to investigate the physical details of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal peaks of air pollution from wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity in the western provinces of Canada. During these episodes, populations are exposed to adverse short-term health effects due to elevated levels of fine particulate matter, which is the primary pollutant associated with smoke. The spatial resolution of ground-based monitoring records generally is not sufficient for emergency preparedness and epidemiological studies of such events. Accurate spatial and temporal models of smoke pollution for the study of smoke exposure effects require reliable, fine-scale input data. Satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) measures can provide a valuable alternative to the coarse spatial resolution of ground PM2.5 monitoring network measurements. Numerous statistical approaches have been used to estimate the link between AOD and PM2.5, most of which consider the relationship between AOD and PM2.5 as being fixed over space and for an entire day; however, due to time-varying meteorological variables, that relationship changes over time and space. Hence, to capture the effects of temporal and spatial variations on the AOD-PM2.5 relationship, two nested linear mixed effect (LME) models are developed herein. Daily estimation of PM2.5 concentration is derived by incorporating nested period-zone-specific random effects of the AOD-PM2.5 relationship over the province of Alberta, Canada. Model validation shows that LME improves the estimation performance of the model compared with ordinary multivariate linear regression by more than 115%. Our findings indicate that the potential of the LME model increases when additional variables are integrated with AOD measures in a multivariate framework. This single model yields an array of reliable spatial-temporal estimates of daily PM2.5 concentrations from wildfire at fine spatial resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent growth in the frequency and severity of US wildfires has led to more wildfire smoke and increased public exposure to harmful air pollutants. Populations exposed to wildfire smoke experience a variety of negative health impacts, imposing economic costs on society. However, few estimates of smoke health costs exist and none for the entire Western US, in particular, which experiences some of the largest and most intense wildfires in the US. The lack of cost estimates is troublesome because smoke health impacts are an important consideration of the overall costs of wildfire. To address this gap, this study provides the first time series estimates of PM2.5 smoke costs across mortality and several morbidity measures for the Western US over 2005-2015. This time period includes smoke from several megafires and includes years of record-breaking acres burned. Smoke costs are estimated using a benefits transfer protocol developed for contexts when original health data are not available. The novelty of our protocol is that it synthesizes the literature on choices faced by researchers when conducting a smoke cost benefit transfer. On average, wildfire smoke in the Western US creates $165 million in annual morbidity and mortality health costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Wildfire smoke is an important source of air pollution associated with a range of cardiopulmonary health conditions. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is the most widely used tool in Canada to communicate with the public about air pollution, but it may not adequately reflect health risks from wildfire smoke. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the AQHI and four alternate AQHI-Plus amendments to predict adverse population health effects from wildfire smoke., Methods: The maximum 1-h values of the AQHI and the four amendments were calculated for each 48-h period of the wildfire seasons from 2010 to 2017 for 32 health units in British Columbia. Generalized Poisson models were used to estimate the association between these values and daily counts of five health outcomes: all-cause mortality; physician visits for all circulatory causes; visits for all respiratory causes, including asthma; asthma-specific visits; and dispensations of salbutamol sulfate (i.e., Ventolin®). Model fit was evaluated with the Akaike information criterion., Results: The AQHI and the four amendments were all associated with all five health outcomes. The AQHI exhibited best fit to the all-cause mortality and circulatory physician visits during all wildfire seasons, while the 1-h PM 2.5 Only AQHI-Plus exhibited best fit to the asthma-related outcomes during all wildfire seasons., Conclusion: Individuals with common respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are particularly susceptible to wildfire smoke. As such, the 1-h PM 2.5 Only AQHI-Plus amendment was recommended for communicating about potential health effects of air quality during wildfire seasons in BC.

Objectives: During the period of June-September 2014, the Northwest Territories (NWT) experienced its worst wildfire season on record, with prolonged smoke events and poor air quality. In the context of climate change, this study sought to qualitatively explore the lived experience of the 2014 wildfire season among four communities in the NWT., Methods: Our team conducted 30 semi-structured interviews in four communities (Yellowknife, N'Dilo, Detah, and Kakisa). Interviewees were purposively sampled to include a broad cross-section of backgrounds and experiences. Interviews were video recorded, and the audio portion of each interview was transcribed to facilitate analysis and theme generation., Results: Interviewees reported how their experiences of evacuation and isolation as well as feelings of fear, stress, and uncertainty contributed to acute and long-term negative impacts for their mental and emotional well-being. Prolonged smoke events were linked to extended time indoors and respiratory problems. Livelihood and land-based activities were disrupted for some interviewees, which had negative consequences for mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Individual and community stories of adaptation and resilience prior to and during the summer, including the opening of indoor recreational spaces, were shared; however, there was consensus about the need for improved risk communication and coordination at the community and territorial levels to address similar events in the future., Conclusion: Coordinated community-based education, communication, and adaptation initiatives that are inclusive of local knowledge, values, and context are needed to address the expressed needs of community members associated with prolonged smoke events and wildfire seasons.