Abstract
Wildfire causes multiple problems for people living in cities. One of them is the deterioration of air quality as a result of wildfire smoke. This smoke can consequently have effects on human health. The present study aims to characterize the relationship between the occurrence of wildfires in central Chile and the effects on children’s respiratory health. Public databases provided the number of emergency care visits, wildfires, and concentration of air pollutants, demographics and meteorological variables for the regions of Santiago and Valparaiso from 2010 to 2013. Time series analysis was used monthly on health care visits to determine the relative health risk in children when in the presence of additional wildfires. Significant health risks were observed in Santiago for children younger than 1-year-old of bronchitis (RR 1.007, CI 95% 1.007–1.008; chronic lower respiratory diseases (RR 1.012, CI 95% 1.012–1.013); and pneumonia (RR 1.026 CI 95% 1.026–1.027) and in children aged one to four years old (RR 1.016 CI 95% 1.015–1.016). A dose-response relationship was also observed for pneumonia, showing that it affects younger children particularly when there is an increase in the number of wildfires. In the Region of Valparaíso, wildfires did not significantly change the risk of respiratory illness, this could be due to favorable ventilation. Currently, Santiago has an urgent need for monitoring and the evaluation of the damage to children’s respiratory health, along with the development of comprehensive prevention strategies.
Highlights
Air pollutants released as a consequence of the nature and quantity of biomass burned in wildfires [1] are able to cause problems to human health
Our study examined the effects of wildfires on respiratory health, primarily centered on children, and determined that the older age groups (5–14 years) were less prone to respiratory distress, in contrast to the studies conducted by several authors [10,11,38,39] that were inconclusive on the results of age effects
More than 1 million children living in Santiago presented an increase in the risk of developing respiratory illness, due to exposure to wildfire smoke
Summary
Air pollutants released as a consequence of the nature and quantity of biomass burned in wildfires [1] are able to cause problems to human health. The exposure to particulate matter released from wildfires has been associated with several health effects, ranging from higher consumption of medications [5], nose and throat irritations [6,7] to more serious disorders, such as asthma exacerbation, pulmonary circulation, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and premature death [1,6,8,9,10,11,12]. All of these consequences have turned wildfire smoke into a paramount health issue affecting millions of people in climate change context [13]
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