A US national causal analysis of the impacts of wildfire smoke and disaster on preterm birth and infant mortality

Wildfires are widespread in Canada, the United States, and globally, and will become more frequent, intense, and destructive with climate change. 70% of the US population is exposed to wildfire smoke each year. At the same time, people caught in wildfire disasters experience evacuation, fear, disruption of social networks, and financial strain. Both wildfire-generated fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a pernicious air pollutant, and exposure to a wildfire disaster may cause a neonate to be born early or an infant to die. Most studies about wildfire and health focus on smoke. Few evaluate early birth or infant death, or consider environmental justice. Some people may be more vulnerable to wildfire, like those who live in housing that lets in smoke, or babies and parents who are sick already. We propose a study spanning years 2000-2017 using three US national datasets: one including all wildfire disasters, another cataloguing wildfire PM2.5 concentrations, and a third cataloguing all births and infant deaths. We assembled the disaster dataset based on available wildfire and federal emergency declarations. We used ground-level air pollution concentrations and satellite images to create estimated wildfire PM2.5 levels. Together with vital statistics data, we can measure disaster and wildfire PM2.5¬ exposure during pregnancy and after birth. We aim to: (1) evaluate the effects of disaster exposure and exposure to wildfire PM2.5 on the risk of early birth and infant death; and (2) examine these relationships in subgroups who may be more vulnerable. Wildfire seasons will continue to worsen in North America. The proposed work considers smoke and disaster exposure during vulnerable life stages. This contributes to environmental justice goals by identifying those most at risk of health effects from wildfire. To achieve disaster resiliency, we must identify individuals and areas that are at higher risk, so we can intervene to protect population health.