Latest news with #airpollution
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
Wildfire Health Impacts Can Last For Months Afterwards, Study Finds
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 7: People wear masks as they wait for the tramway to Roosevelt Island as ... More smoke from Canadian wildfires casts a haze over the area on June 7, 2023 in New York City. Air pollution alerts were issued across the United States due to smoke from wildfires that have been burning in Canada for weeks. (Photo by Eduardo) The health impacts of being exposed to air pollution from wildfires can last for months, even after a fire has ended, according to a new analysis. The study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found exposure to PM2.5 particle pollution from wildfire smoke can have health effects up to three months after the blazes have ended, well beyond the couple of days that previous studies have identified. According to the study, medium-term exposure to PM2.5 from wildfire smoke has been associated with increased risks for various conditions, including ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and asthma. The study also showed larger effects in neighborhoods with more vegetation or more economic disadvantages, as well as among people who have smoked at any point in their life. The researchers examined hospitalization records for the residents of 15 states between 2006–2016, and daily PM2.5 estimations. They found a three-month exposure to smoke PM2.5 was associated with increased hospitalization risks for most cardiorespiratory diseases In addition, the results for single-month lagged exposures suggested that estimated effects persisted up to three months after exposure. Dr. Yaguang Wei, assistant professor of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine said studies in the past have tended to focus on the short-term impacts of wildfire emissions in an interview. But Dr. Wei added larger wildfires can burn for up to a month and even after they have ended, particle emissions will remain the air and for another couple of weeks, which potentially means people could be exposed to air pollution over a period of several months. He said the report also highlights how some communities, particularly those with more unemployment, lower housing quality and higher levels of poverty can be more impacted by wildfire smoke. Dr. Wei said the study also highlights how many wildfires management strategies are outdated and place too much emphasis on protecting property, when they should put more emphasis on public health. 'Greater effort should be placed on wildfire management rather than relying solely on traditional air quality control strategies in response to the increasing wildfire activity,' he added. The dean for public health and chair of the Department of Public Health at Mount Sinai, Dr. Rosalind J. Wright said in a statement: 'The public and clinicians should take preventive measures during and after wildfires, such as wearing masks and using high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, which are becoming more affordable. 'Findings from this study underscore the need to continue such preventive measure for a prolonged period after the fires have ended. 'Collaborative efforts across federal, state, and local levels are essential to safeguard the health of communities nationwide,' added Dr. Wright. The chief executive and co-founder of Komodo Health, Dr. Arif Nathoo said the health consequences of wildfires linger long after the smoke clears in an email. Dr. Nathoo added Komodo Health's own research into the 2018 Northern California wildfires found that pediatric asthma-related emergency visits rose by 27% during the 14-day smoke wave, with asthma exacerbations for Hispanic and Latino children increasing by 95% compared to the baseline. 'The critical takeaway is that early signals can now guide timely interventions,' he said.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Climate
- Washington Post
How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
As smoke from raging wildfires in Canada continues drifting into parts of the United States, it's critical to know how you can protect yourself from potentially dangerous levels of air pollution. Wildfire smoke contains hazardous pollutants that include toxic gases and particulate matter — solid particles and liquid droplets that are produced when these fires burn through trees, buildings and other materials. While some particulate matter can be easily seen in the form of soot, smoke also carries smaller particles that can infiltrate the human body and affect health. Experts say this pollution could affect your health whether you're indoors or outdoors.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is the oil and gas boom harming New Mexico's students?
Billton Werito and his son Amari in front of a drilling pad near their house in the Counselor Chapter area of the Navajo Nation. (Nadav Soroker/Searchlight New Mexico) COUNSELOR, N.M. – On a Tuesday in March, Billton Werito drove his son Amari toward his house in Counselor, New Mexico, navigating the bumpy dirt road that winds through a maze of natural gas pipelines, wellheads and water tanks. Amari should have been in school, but a bout of nausea and a dull headache kept him from class. 'To me the surprise was certainly the magnitude of the effects' of air pollution on students, said Mike Gilraine, a professor of economics at Simon Fraser University. 'It's hard to find a similar factor that would have such an impact on schools nationwide.' 'It happens a lot,' Amari explained from the backseat, glancing up from his Nintendo Switch. The symptoms usually show up when the sixth-grader smells an odor of 'rotten egg with propane' that rises from nearby natural gas wells and wafts over Lybrook Elementary School, where he and some 70 other Navajo students attend class. His little brother often misses school for the same reason. 'They just keep getting sick,' Amari's father, Billton, said. 'I have to take them out of class because of the headaches. Especially the younger one, he's been throwing up and won't eat.' The symptoms are putting the kids at risk of falling further behind in school. This article first appeared on Searchlight New Mexico and is republished here under a Creative Commons License. Lybrook sits in the heart of New Mexico's San Juan Basin, a major oil and gas deposit that, along with the Permian Basin in the state's southeast, is supplying natural gas that meets much of the nation's electricity demand. The gas pulled from tens of thousands of wells in New Mexico has reaped huge benefits for the entire country. Natural gas has become a go-to fuel for power plants from coast to coast, sometimes replacing dirtier coal-fired plants and, by extension, improving air quality. Locally, oil and gas companies employ thousands of workers, often in areas with few other opportunities, all while boosting the state's budget with billions in royalty payments. But those benefits may come at a cost for thousands of students in New Mexico whose schools sit near oil and gas pipelines, wellheads and flare stacks. An Associated Press analysis of state and federal data found 694 oil and gas wells with new or active permits within a mile of a school in the state. This means that around 29,500 students in 74 schools and pre-schools potentially face exposure to noxious emissions, as extraction from the ground can release unhealthy fumes. At Lybrook, where Amari just finished sixth grade, fewer than 6 percent of students are proficient at math, and only a fifth meet state standards for science and reading proficiency. Other factors could help explain students' poor achievement. Poverty rates are higher in some areas with high levels of gas development, and students at rural schools overall tend to face challenges that can adversely affect academic performance. AP's analysis found that two-thirds of the schools within a mile of an oil or gas well were low-income, and the population is around 24 percent Native American and 45 percent Hispanic. But research has found that student learning is directly harmed by air pollution from fossil fuels — even when socioeconomic factors are taken into account. And it's not just New Mexico where this is a risk. An AP analysis of data from the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker found over 1,000 public schools across 13 states that are within five miles of a major oil or gas field. Major fields are collections of wells that produce the highest amount of energy in a state. 'This kind of air pollution has a real, measurable effect on students,' said Mike Gilraine, a professor of economics at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, who studies connections between air quality and student performance. In 2024, Gilraine cowrote a study showing that student test scores were closely associated with air contamination. Each measured increase in PM2.5, a type of pollution created from the burning of fossil fuels, was associated with a significant decline in student test scores, Gilraine found. Conversely, researchers have documented that reductions in air pollution have led to higher test scores and fewer absences. 'To me the surprise was certainly the magnitude of the effects' of air pollution on students, Gilraine said. 'It's hard to find a similar factor that would have such an impact on schools nationwide.' America's shift to natural gas has resulted in substantial increases in student achievement nationwide, Gilraine's research shows, as it has displaced dirtier coal and led to cleaner air on the whole. But there has been little data on air quality across New Mexico, even as it has become one of the most productive states in the nation for natural gas. State regulators have installed only 20 permanent air monitors, most in areas without oil or gas production. Independent researchers have extensively studied the air quality near schools in at least two locations in the state, however. One is Lybrook, which sits within a mile of 17 active oil and gas wells. In 2024, scientists affiliated with Princeton and Northern Arizona universities conducted an air-monitoring study at the school, finding that levels of pollutants — including benzene, a cancer-causing byproduct of natural gas production that is particularly harmful to children — were spiking during school hours, to nearly double the levels known to cause chronic or acute health effects. That research followed a 2021 health impact assessment that was done with support from several local nonprofits and foundations, which analyzed the effects of the area's oil and gas development on residents. The findings were startling: More than 90 percent of people surveyed suffered from sinus problems. Nosebleeds, shortness of breath and nausea were widespread. The report attributed the symptoms to the high levels of pollutants that researchers found — including, near Lybrook, hydrogen sulfide, a compound that gives off the sulfur smell that Amari Werito associated with his headaches. Those studies helped confirm what many community members already knew, said Daniel Tso, a community leader who served on the committee that oversaw the 2021 health impact assessment. 'The children and the grandchildren need a safe homeland,' Tso said during an interview in March, standing outside a cluster of gas wells within a mile of Lybrook Elementary. 'You smell that?' he said, nodding towards a nearby wellhead, which smelled like propane. 'That's what the kids at the school are breathing in. I've had people visiting this area from New York. They spend five minutes here and say, 'Hey, I got a headache.' And the kids are what, six hours a day at the school breathing this?' Lybrook school officials did not respond to requests for comment. Researchers have identified similar air quality problems in New Mexico's southeast. In 2023, a team of scientists from a coalition of universities conducted a detailed, yearlong study of the air in Loving, a small town in the Permian Basin. Local air quality, researchers found, was worse than in downtown Los Angeles, and the tested air contained the fifth-highest level of measured ozone contamination in the U.S. The source of the ozone — a pollutant that's especially hazardous to children — was the area's network of gas wells and related infrastructure. Some of that infrastructure sits within a half-mile of a campus that houses Loving's elementary, middle and high schools. A small group of residents has spoken out about the area's air quality, saying it has caused respiratory problems and other health issues. But for most locals, any concerns about pollution are outweighed by the industry's economic benefits. Representatives of the oil and gas industry have claimed the air quality studies themselves are not trustworthy. 'There needs to be a robust study to actually answer these questions,' said Andrea Felix, vice president of regulatory affairs for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA). Felix said other sources of emissions, such as cars and trucks, are likely a larger source of air quality problems near wells. 'Companies follow the best available science' for well placement and emissions controls, Felix said, and also contribute huge amounts of money to the state's education budget through streams like royalties and direct expenditures. In the most recent fiscal year, oil and gas revenue supported $1.7 billion in K-12 spending in New Mexico, according to a NMOGA report. Officials with Loving Municipal Schools are also skeptical of the alarm over the wells. Loving Superintendent Lee White said the school district used funds from the oil and gas industry to pay for a new wing at the elementary school, a science lab for students, turf on the sports field and training and professional development for teachers. He said the industry's contributions to state coffers can't be ignored. 'Are we willing to give that up because people say our air is not clean?' he said during an interview. 'It's just as clean as anywhere else.' As White spoke, a drill rig worked a couple of miles east of Loving's elementary school while parents poured into the gymnasium to watch kindergartners collect their diplomas. White touted the district's success, saying the elementary school scores above state averages for reading, math and science proficiency, while Loving's high school students far outpace the state average for college and career readiness. But environmental groups, attorneys and residents continue to push for limits on drilling near schools. Those efforts saw a boost in 2023, when New Mexico State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard issued an executive order prohibiting new oil and gas leases on state-owned land within a mile of schools. Industry representatives decried the move, saying it added potentially insurmountable costs and barriers to drilling operators. However, AP's analysis found that relatively few wells would be impacted even if the rule applied to all of New Mexico; only around 1 percent of oil and gas wells in the state are within a mile of a school. In the years since, residents of areas where exploration is heavy have lobbied for legislation prohibiting gas operations within a mile of schools, regardless of land status. That bill died in committee during the most recent session of the New Mexico legislature. Advocates have also sued the state over an alleged lack of pollution controls. That suit is currently pending in state court. Ed Williams is a staff reporter for Searchlight New Mexico. Susan Montoya Bryan is Southwest Chief Correspondent for the Associated Press. AP journalist Sharon Lurye contributed to this report from New Orleans.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Wildfire smoke exposure may shorten lung cancer survival
Manitoba RCMP officers assisted with the evacuation of several northern communities in Manitoba including the City of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation, and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation on May 28 and 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Manitoba RCMP Exposure to wildfire smoke may increase lung cancer patients' risk of dying from their disease, particularly among non-smokers, but the effect may be mitigated by certain cancer treatments, according to a large California study presented at a major medical meeting on Saturday. Researchers tracked more than 18,000 people with non-small cell lung cancer – the most common kind – between 2017 and 2020. Those living in neighborhoods with the highest levels of wildfire-caused air pollution in the year after their cancer diagnosis were more likely to die from the disease, they found. Patients who inhaled higher levels of tiny particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less that can penetrate deeply into the lungs had a 20% greater risk of dying from lung cancer, researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. People with advanced stage 4 cancer who had never smoked were especially affected, researchers found. Their risk of dying from cancer was 55% higher if they were exposed to high levels of wildfire air pollution. The study used advanced modeling to estimate daily air quality at patients' home addresses, based on data from satellites, weather models, smoke forecasts and air quality monitors. The researchers also found that wildfire smoke exposure did not significantly affect survival of patients with Stage 4 lung cancer with a history of smoking who were treated with an immunotherapy drug. 'This surprising trend suggests that smoke-related changes in the body may interact with certain treatments,' and more study of this phenomenon is warranted, the researchers said. Wildfire smoke is more toxic than normal air pollution. Along with particles of soil and biological materials, it often contains traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials. 'As wildfires become more frequent and intense in California and other parts of the U.S., we need targeted health strategies to protect cancer patients and others with serious health problems,' said study leader Dr. Surbhi Singhal of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California. Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot
Reuters
3 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Wildfire smoke exposure may shorten lung cancer survival
May 31 (Reuters) - Exposure to wildfire smoke may increase lung cancer patients' risk of dying from their disease, particularly among non-smokers, but the effect may be mitigated by certain cancer treatments, according to a large California study presented at a major medical meeting on Saturday. Researchers tracked more than 18,000 people with non-small cell lung cancer – the most common kind – between 2017 and 2020. Those living in neighborhoods with the highest levels of wildfire-caused air pollution in the year after their cancer diagnosis were more likely to die from the disease, they found. Patients who inhaled higher levels of tiny particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less that can penetrate deeply into the lungs had a 20% greater risk of dying from lung cancer, researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. People with advanced stage 4 cancer who had never smoked were especially affected, researchers found. Their risk of dying from cancer was 55% higher if they were exposed to high levels of wildfire air pollution. The study used advanced modeling to estimate daily air quality at patients' home addresses, based on data from satellites, weather models, smoke forecasts and air quality monitors. The researchers also found that wildfire smoke exposure did not significantly affect survival of patients with Stage 4 lung cancer with a history of smoking who were treated with an immunotherapy drug. 'This surprising trend suggests that smoke-related changes in the body may interact with certain treatments,' and more study of this phenomenon is warranted, the researchers said. Wildfire smoke is more toxic than normal air pollution. Along with particles of soil and biological materials, it often contains traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials. 'As wildfires become more frequent and intense in California and other parts of the U.S., we need targeted health strategies to protect cancer patients and others with serious health problems,' said study leader Dr. Surbhi Singhal of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California.
