Wildfire PM2.5 Linked to Increase in Incidence of Asthma ED Visits

MONDAY, Aug. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Wildfire fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is associated with a significant increase in the incidence of same-day asthma emergency department (ED) visits, but the increase was only slightly higher than that seen on high pollen count days, according to a research letter published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Noting that during early June 2023, a low-pressure weather system induced strong winds carrying wildfire pollution from Canada into the United States, George Thurston, Sc.D., from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and colleagues examined the impact on respiratory ED visits in New York City (NYC).

The researchers found that during 2023, June 7 was the highest asthma ED visit day with 335 ED visits, but was only 10 percent higher than earlier high pollen period days (e.g., 302 ED visits on April 6, 2023). The predicted excess wildfire PM_2.5 reached 146.1 µg/m³ on June 7, 2023. The NYC wildfire PM_2.5 was associated with asthma ED visits (incidence rate ratio, 1.03 per 10 µg/m³ increment), but no association was seen for background PM_2.5 during this period. No association was seen for pollen counts with PM_2.5; inclusion of pollen counts did not affect the wildfire PM_2.5 effect estimates. In stratified analyses, the wildfire PM_2.5 asthma effect was more pronounced in those aged 18 to 65 years versus those aged younger than 18 years or older than 65 years.

"The respiratory effects of the wildfire smoke in June were not much worse than what had been seen on really bad pollen days back in the spring, and despite what many New Yorkers may have feared on seeing hazy, orange air,” Wuyue Yu, from NYU Langone Health, said in a statement.

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