Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Smoke From Wildfires Can Worsen Covid-19 Risk, Putting Firefighters In Even More Danger, Luke Montrose

Public Health and Population Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two forces of nature are colliding in the western United States, and wildland firefighters are caught in the middle.

Emerging research suggests that the smoke firefighters breathe on the front lines of wildfires is putting them at greater risk from the new coronavirus, with potentially lethal effects.

At the same time, firefighting conditions make precautions such as social distancing and hand-washing difficult, increasing the chance that, once the virus enters a fire camp, it could quickly spread.

As an environmental toxicologist, I have spent the last decade expanding our understanding of how wood smoke exposure impacts human health. Much of …

What’S In Wildfire Smoke, And Why Is It So Bad For Your Lungs?, Luke Montrose

Public Health and Population Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

If I dare to give the coronavirus credit for anything, I would say it has made people more conscious of the air they breathe.

A friend texted me recently after going for a jog in the foothills near Boise, Idaho, writing: “My lungs are burning … explain what’s happening!!!”

A wildfire was burning to the east of town – one of hundreds of fires that were sending smoke and ash through communities in hot, dry western states. As an environmental toxicologist, I research how air pollution, particularly wood smoke, impacts human health and disease.