A new report published today revealed dire consequences of human-ignited fires on Americans’ health.

Small smoke particles are directly responsible for almost 80% of premature deaths in the US.

This is the conclusion of a research that was just published in the journal Environmental Research Letters from IOP Publishing.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology-led team behind the new study examines how smoke particles affect the country’s air quality.

In the United States, microscopic smoke particles known as PM2.5 account for more than 67% of all fires, according to their study.

It is well recognized that these particles worsen air quality, resulting in respiratory diseases and early mortality.

The number of fires in the United States is increasing.

According to the study team, smoke from human-ignited fires was responsible for 20,000 premature fatalities in 2018, a year with a high frequency of fire incidents, a significant number of which were related with human ignitions such as agricultural and human-lit fires.

This is a 270% increase from 2003, when there was a low frequency of fire incidents. The study shows that there are significantly greater levels of smoke PM2.5 in the air during years with high fire activity.

“Fires not only threaten human lives, infrastructure, and ecosystems, but they are also a major cause for concern in terms of air quality,” remarks lead author Dr. Therese Carter. 

“High levels of smoke exposure can negatively impact human health resulting in conditions such as respiratory infections, lung cancer, heart disease and even premature births.” 

The results of the study “show that a large and significant portion of harmful smoke particles result directly from human-lit fires.”

The scientists measured the emissions from agricultural fires and divided them into two groups based on their sources of ignition: human-caused and natural.

Using a chemical transport model, they replicate smoke particle concentrations throughout the United States, finding that a large fraction of PM2.5 in the United States is caused by human-caused fires and so has the potential to be regulated.

The team suggests an ignition-focused strategy to reduce the damaging impacts of pollution from small smoke particles.

State agencies can put in place management plans that stop agricultural fires from happening when the weather is bad for people’s health.

But wildfires started by people are much harder to control because they start at random and aren’t planned.

“Now we know that humans can play a pivotal role in reducing PM2.5 concentrations, we should be putting policies, regulations, and management plans in place to reduce human-ignited fires,” writes Carter in his conclusion. 

“Efforts to minimise human-ignited fires should be focused on certain regions and ignition types in order to be more successful. Identifying and acknowledging the sources of these particles is the first step in a cleaner, healthier future.”

Source: 10.1088/1748-9326/aca91f

Image Credit: IOP Publishing