Long-term impact of PM2.5 on mortality is exacerbated when wildfire events occur

TL;DR

This study shows that wildfire events worsen the long-term health impacts of PM2.5 exposure on mortality among older US adults, highlighting increased health risks during wildfire periods.

Contribution

It is the first to evaluate how wildfire events amplify the mortality risks associated with long-term PM2.5 exposure.

Findings

Wildfire events increase PM2.5-related mortality risk.

Over 60 million older US adults studied.

Wildfires exacerbate long-term air pollution health effects.

Abstract

There is extensive evidence that long-term exposure to all-source PM2.5 increases mortality. However, to date, no study has evaluated whether this effect is exacerbated in the presence of wildfire events. Here, we study 60+ million older US adults and find that wildfire events increase the harmful effects of long-term all-source PM2.5 exposure on mortality, providing a new and realistic conceptualization of wildfire health risks.