Characterizing the Level and Distribution of Wildland Fire Smoke Impacts in the U.S. among Susceptible Populations

Abstract

Wildland fires are a significant source of fine particles (PM2.5) in the atmosphere. Previous research has explored the air quality and human health impacts of wildland fire events over a multi-year period in the United States. Less well understood is how wildland fires affect populations most susceptible and vulnerable to poor air quality. In this analysis, we characterize the wildland fire-attributable exposure and PM2.5 related mortality and morbidity impacts among several subpopulations between 2008 and 2012. Following approaches previously employed in the literature, we operationalize the terms susceptible and vulnerable according to a variety of attributes that can be observed at the population-level; these include age, race, ethnicity and baseline rate of mortality and morbidity. We also draw from approaches used within the Environmental Justice literature—the Gini Coefficient and Atkinson Index in particular—to quantify the level of mortality and morbidity risk inequality within susceptible and vulnerable groups and between these groups and the rest of the population affected by wildland smoke. We explore the extent to which the extent and intensity of wildland fire events are associated with greater or lesser risk inequality among these subgroups over this five-year period.