Fires: The health effects of smoke – What we know and how to protect ourselves

The smoke produced by forest fires causes a particular burden on people’s health, affecting even those who are not close to the front of the fire. The effects of a forest fire are multiple and not limited only in the immediate threat to human life, in the destruction of the environment and property but they also extend to unknown aspects hidden behind the consequences that the “smoke journey” can have. With the smoke produced in a fire being a complex mixture of gaseous, liquid and solid components (gases, VOCs and particulates) exposure to the components can cause acute, short-term and long-term health effects.

According to NTUA professor, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and director of the European Center for Forest Fires, Miltiadis Stateropoulos, in the first phase, in order to evaluate the smoke from a forest fire, one should see the quantity produced, the duration, the frequency , and the composition. At the same time, as Mr. Stateropoulos emphasizes to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency, the smoke is not limited to the place where a forest fire is in progress. “Forest fires, especially those that are very long-lasting and do not have local effects, spread even across an entire continent and even across the planet. Forest fire smoke pollution is not a local phenomenon, nor a municipal phenomenon. Depending on its duration it is of a whole line that the smoke is directed. It is the effect across the direction of the smoke front. This is why one should care about forest fires and their smoke, not only for ecological reasons but because smoke is not something that is limited to where it will happen. Smoke is an element that is not local, pollution can be regional, cross-border, transnational”, he says characteristically.

Regarding the health consequences of a forest fire, they are divided into: acute, short-term and long-term.

The acute ones, according to Mr. Stateropoulos, come from the gases or from the smoke that affects some people very close to the front of the forest fire. “The main recipients of these effects are the firefighters and those involved in extinguishing the fire. The short-term ones are mainly cardiorespiratory problems and ophthalmological consequences and are determined on the first or the next day, while the long-term ones have to do with the frequency with which we inhale forest fire smoke – and it has actually been found that they statistically increase some diseases as well as carcinogenesis”, Mr. Stateropoulos emphasizes to APE-MPE and adds that there is a need for people to understand the dangers of smoke from a forest fire and the overall health effects. “Many times people act on the fire front ignoring these factors,” he says, adding that the health effects are linked to the toxicity of the components of the smoke produced, the characteristics of smoke exposure, the degree of vulnerability of the exposed population and the specific groups of exposure. (firemen).

Regarding the toxicity of the components of the produced smoke, the complex scenario of a fire involving the path of a front should be considered at the same time, i.e. if a front passes through an industrial zone or if there is an illegal dump in a forest area.

“The situation with smoke becomes even more complex when the fire front passes through an industrial zone, plastics industry or if it passes through a large landfill. When a forest fire (the temperature of which varies from 600 degrees to 1,100) passes over a landfill, then we are no longer talking about a simple forest fire, we are talking about a very complex and aggressive mixture of substances. This is one reason why there must be strict surveillance and the disappearance of illegal dumps”, Mr. Stateropoulos points out.

Examining the recent forest fire in Penteli and the measurements of gases and particles from measuring stations in Pallini and Koropi, one notices that the concentrations of suspended particles PM10 and PM2.5 (atmospheric pollutants particularly harmful to human life and the environment) almost quadrupled a the day after the fire, on July 20, while the prices of both nitrogen dioxide and sulfur are increased. Specifically, according to data from the air pollution measurement stations in Pallini, Koropi, Spata, Glyka Nera and Markopoulos provided to APE-MPE by Athens International Airport, PM10 and PM2.5 particles, in Pallini and Koropi, show a very large increase at their average concentrations in the next 24 hours from the occurrence of the fire. To be precise, at the station in Pallini on July 18 and 19, PM10 concentrations were at very normal levels around 17-19 μg/m³. However, the next day, on July 20, this value reached 68.14 µg/m³. The corresponding price in Koropi doubled. At the same time, PM2.5 concentrations in Pallini and Koropi quadrupled in one day.

According to Mr. Stateropoulos, the limit value in the permissible limits for PM10 is 50 μg/m³ while for PM2.5 25 μg/m³, values ​​that, as it appears from the data, were greatly exceeded as in Pallini and Koropi the PM2.5 on July 20 they reached 35.49 μg/m³ and 36.13 μg/m³ respectively. The optimistic thing, however, is that the increase in prices does not last more than 24 hours as in the following days they register a downward trend.

“In Pallini and Koropi we have a twofold to fourfold increased concentration on the day and the day after the forest fire. This leads us to believe that as we get closer to the front of the fire these values ​​will be much higher. In the areas that are close to the focus of the fire, for example Penteli, in that 24 hours they might have reached 200 or 400 or 500 micrograms in the particles. The prices there would have skyrocketed”, underlines Mr. Stateropoulos and emphasizes that this atmospheric pollution does not remain focused in the area of ​​Penteli but spreads over a very long distance. “So any area can receive the smoke of the forest fire from a very long distance from the one that takes place. The impact of a forest fire is not only limited to where the fire occurs but affects a large area,” he notes.

Protection measures and vulnerable groups

The best protection measure according to Mr. Stateropoulos is prevention, however when this is not possible the removal of the population from the areas where it has manifested is a solution. “One way is for someone to leave the area while the forest fire lasts. Near the front of the fire, you are in immediate danger from the smoke, but the health burden is also very high. I believe that the evacuation is not only done so that the fire can be directed there, but also for reasons of protection against the smoke”, explains Mr. Stateropoulos. Also, as he emphasizes, another measure of protection would be the granting of special masks during the occurrence of a fire.

However, the most important thing for him is that people immediately realize the danger of a forest fire. “Of course there is a risk to property, to the environment, but it is also an important risk to human life and human health,” he notes.

Information on the effects of smoke in the atmosphere has a catalytic role in the protection measures, as it states that they need to be informed that the concentrations of gases, particles and various chemicals in the smoke are such that they can either directly create a risk to life.

In addition, Mr. Stateropoulos emphasizes that specific provision and provision is needed for people with disabilities and for those with mobility problems in the event that a forest fire breaks out in the area where they live. In particular, as he says, the family or those who work in structures for the disabled need to be very well trained. “We urge the structures for people with disabilities that may be in areas where there is a possibility of a forest fire to carry out drills in cooperation with the Fire Department to evacuate the structure.”

It is noted that particularly vulnerable to the effects of smoke from a forest fire are people with respiratory problems or asthma, those suffering from hypersensitivity of the respiratory tract, people with cardiovascular diseases, the elderly, children, infants, pregnant women and smokers.

RES-EMP

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