Hazy days of summer
By Nakaysha Gonzalez
The National Weather Service predicts that southern New England will experience some hazy skies due to wildfires through most of this week |
Climate-driven
wildfire events are rapidly transferring harmful particulate matter containing
toxic chemicals over long distances, compromising air quality in the New Jersey
and New York City areas, according to Rutgers Health research.
Published
in Environmental Science & Technology and to be featured
on the cover of the journal’s next issue, the study assessed
the physical and chemical characteristics of wildfire-related particulate
matter and was the first to report this characterization from a climate-driven
wildfire event in the densely populated Northeast region.
“Particulate matter is a leading environmental factor in the global burden of disease, with climate-driven wildfires being a major source,” said lead author Jose Guillermo "Memo" Cedeño Laurent, assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and director of the Rutgers Climate Adaptive and Restorative Environments Lab. “In the U.S., climate change-driven wildfires are reversing decade-long improvements in ambient air quality.”
The
issue is pressing as there is an increasing body of evidence suggesting
wildfire pollution is associated with worsened health impacts compared to
non-wildfire pollution. Emerging evidence includes recent epidemiological
studies linking the wildfire event to respiratory and cardiovascular emergency
visits in New York City, although little is known about the mechanisms behind
those impacts.
Using
advanced physicochemical analysis of the particulate matter, researchers
discovered large amounts of high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are cancer-causing organic compounds, at the peak of
the incident on June 7.
“We
found very large concentrations of ultrafine and fine particulate matter during
the peak of this wildfire, surpassing almost 10 times the national air quality
standards and any previous record in more than five decades of air quality
monitoring in the U.S. Northeast,” said Cedeño Laurent.
Senior
author Philip Demokritou, Henry Rutgers Chair and professor in
nanoscience and environmental engineering at the Rutgers School of Public
Health and director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Center (NAMC),
said, “Such small particles have the ability to penetrate deep in the lung and
can cause adverse health effects, as recently reported in the New York City
area by epidemiological studies.”
Findings
showed that the estimated potential inhalation dose of particulate matter
(PM10) over a 72-hour exposure period was found to be more than 9 micrograms of
particles deposited in the lungs.
“Our
findings on the extremely high concentrations of ultrafine particles and their
significant PAH content are proving to be invaluable in guiding several ongoing
mechanistic studies at NAMC,” Cedeño Laurent said.
He
added that these studies are investigating the effects of such particles on
various organs, including the lungs by Reynold Panettieri and Joseph Jude at
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Bruce Levy and Yohannes
Tesfaigzi at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston; the heart by the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s cardiovascular program; the brain by David
Leong at the National University of Singapore; and the reproductive system by
Shuo Xiao and Andrew Gow at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.
“Findings
will advance our understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of
wildfire smoke and its impact on human health,” Cedeño Laurent said.
Researchers
said their data underscores the importance of further investigating the
physical and chemical processes of wildfire-related air pollution in comparison
to non-wildfire pollution.
“Results
from our study can be used by public health assessors to evaluate risk and
develop strategies to help our communities,” Demokritou said, “especially those
in areas already compromised by air pollution to adopt to the increasing
wildfire phenomena.”
Additionally,
Cedeño Laurent and Demokritou said their results offer novel insights into the
evolving composition of particulate matter. Their analysis of the particulate
matter’s optical properties will be featured in a companion study, led by
Georgios Kelesidis, Rutgers School of Public Health affiliate, examining the
effect that particulate matter from wildfires has on the Earth’s temperature
and its further influence on climate change in densely populated cities.
Rutgers’
co-authors of the study include Georgios Kelesidis, Rutgers School of Public
Health affiliate, post-doctoral fellows Hooman Parhizkar and Leonardo Calderon,
and doctoral candidate Lila Bazina.