{"title":"Systematic review of impacts of occupational exposure to wildfire smoke on respiratory function, symptoms, measures and diseases","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114463","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Wildfire smoke contains numerous hazardous air pollutants which pose serious health risks to humans. Despite this, there has been a limited focus on the assessment of the acute physiological and longer-term respiratory effects of wildfire exposure on firefighters and other emergency workers. Therefore, we undertook a systematic review of the evidence about the respiratory impacts of occupational wildfire smoke exposure among wildfire fighters (WFF).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Eligible studies from Medline, Embase and Scopus databases were included if they described the relationship between wildfire exposure and respiratory function, symptoms, measures and diseases amongst emergency personnel or firefighters who had responded to wildfires.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Twenty-six articles met the inclusion criteria. 24 out of 26 (22 out of 23 moderate/high quality) studies provided evidence of adverse respiratory effects, including reduced lung function, increased airway dysfunction and airway inflammation, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms and increased asthma incidence related to wildfires or prescribed burns exposure among WFF and police responders. Fourteen out of 19 studies showed statistically significant declines in spirometry measures of lung function (mostly short-term studies). Two studies using complex lung function tests showed a significant effect on peripheral airway function.</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>This review found a convincing body of evidence that occupational exposure to wildfires or prescribed burns has both acute and possibly longer-term respiratory effects among WFFs and some other emergency personnel. Given that these events are increasing, more needs to be done to identify those most at risk and mitigate these risks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13994,"journal":{"name":"International journal of hygiene and environmental health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International journal of hygiene and environmental health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463924001445","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Wildfire smoke contains numerous hazardous air pollutants which pose serious health risks to humans. Despite this, there has been a limited focus on the assessment of the acute physiological and longer-term respiratory effects of wildfire exposure on firefighters and other emergency workers. Therefore, we undertook a systematic review of the evidence about the respiratory impacts of occupational wildfire smoke exposure among wildfire fighters (WFF).
Methods
Eligible studies from Medline, Embase and Scopus databases were included if they described the relationship between wildfire exposure and respiratory function, symptoms, measures and diseases amongst emergency personnel or firefighters who had responded to wildfires.
Results
Twenty-six articles met the inclusion criteria. 24 out of 26 (22 out of 23 moderate/high quality) studies provided evidence of adverse respiratory effects, including reduced lung function, increased airway dysfunction and airway inflammation, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms and increased asthma incidence related to wildfires or prescribed burns exposure among WFF and police responders. Fourteen out of 19 studies showed statistically significant declines in spirometry measures of lung function (mostly short-term studies). Two studies using complex lung function tests showed a significant effect on peripheral airway function.
Discussion
This review found a convincing body of evidence that occupational exposure to wildfires or prescribed burns has both acute and possibly longer-term respiratory effects among WFFs and some other emergency personnel. Given that these events are increasing, more needs to be done to identify those most at risk and mitigate these risks.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health serves as a multidisciplinary forum for original reports on exposure assessment and the reactions to and consequences of human exposure to the biological, chemical, and physical environment. Research reports, short communications, reviews, scientific comments, technical notes, and editorials will be peer-reviewed before acceptance for publication. Priority will be given to articles on epidemiological aspects of environmental toxicology, health risk assessments, susceptible (sub) populations, sanitation and clean water, human biomonitoring, environmental medicine, and public health aspects of exposure-related outcomes.