title: Review of the health effects of wildland fire smoke on wildland firefighters and the public.
abstract: Each year, the general public and wildland firefighters in the US are exposed to smoke from wildland fires. As part of an effort to characterize health risks of breathing this smoke, a review of the literature was conducted using five major databases, including PubMed and MEDLINE Web of Knowledge, to identify smoke components that present the highest hazard potential, the mechanisms of toxicity, review epidemiological studies for health effects and identify the current gap in knowledge on the health impacts of wildland fire smoke exposure. Respiratory events measured in time series studies as incidences of disease-caused mortality, hospital admissions, emergency room visits and symptoms in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are the health effects that are most commonly associated with community level exposure to wildland fire smoke. A few recent studies have also determined associations between acute wildland fire smoke exposure and cardiovascular health end-points. These cardiopulmonary effects were mostly observed in association with ambient air concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, research on the health effects of this mixture is currently limited. The health effects of acute exposures beyond susceptible populations and the effects of chronic exposures experienced by the wildland firefighter are largely unknown. Longitudinal studies of wildland firefighters during and/or after the firefighting career could help elucidate some of the unknown health impacts of cumulative exposure to wildland fire smoke, establish occupational exposure limits and help determine the types of exposure controls that may be applicable to the occupation.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health Science , College of Public Health, University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA .|b Division of Environmental Health Sciences , College of Public Health, the Ohio State University , Columbus , OH , USA .
authors.forename: Olorunfemi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adetona
authors.affiliation: c AMEC Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure, Inc , Seattle , WA , USA .
authors.forename: Timothy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Reinhardt
authors.affiliation: d USDA Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center , Missoula , MT , USA .
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Domitrovich
authors.affiliation: e SDA Forest Service, San Dimas Technology and Development Center , San Dimas , CA , USA .
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broyles
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health Science , College of Public Health, University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA .
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Adetona
authors.affiliation: f Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of California , Irvine , CA , USA , and.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Kleinman
authors.affiliation: g USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station , Seattle , WA , USA.
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Ottmar
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health Science , College of Public Health, University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA .
authors.forename: Luke P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Naeher
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005390:Fires; D065928:Forests; D006801:Humans; D010944:Plants; D012906:Smoke / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014934:Wood
chemical_list: D012906:Smoke
keywords: Cardiovascular effects; respiratory effects; toxicity mechanism; wildfire; wildland firefighter