Exposure to suspended microparticles (PM2.5) from forest fire smoke can have a health impact up to three months later and may even happen after the fires are over.

This is found in research by scientists at the ICAHN Medical School of Mount Sinai and the Harvard Public Health School published in Epidemiology.

This medium -term exposure to PM2.5 by forest fire smoke was associated with increased risks for various cardiopulmonary diseases, including ischemic heart diseaseher cerebral diseaseher arrhythmiaher hypertensionher pneumoniaher chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Compared to PM2.5 that do not come from tobacco, the Pm2.5 of tobacco are smaller in size and are considered more dangerouslybecause they are richer in carbonated compounds, which are more likely to cause oxidative stress and inflammation and thus make a greater threat to public health.

Overall, more than 13.7 million hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and nearly eight million for respiratory diseases among residents of all ages in 15 US states (Arizona, Colorado, Dellaguer, Georgia, Aiova, Aiova, Kentaki, Kentaki, Kentaki, Kentaki Rhodes Island, Washington and Wisconsin).

These were linked time and spatial, using residential addresses, with reports in PM2.5 from tobacco between 2006 and 2016. Between the conditions studied, hypertension showed the greatest increase in the risk of hospitalization.

The study also showed greater impact on neighborhoods with more vegetation, neighborhoods with more disadvantaged conditions (eg lower education, greater unemployment, lower quality of residence and higher poverty), as well as among people who have smoked at any stage of their lives.