Smoke exposure health effects and mitigations for wildland fire personnel

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Wildland firefighters are exposed to wood smoke, which contains hazardous air pollutants, during wildland fire management assignments across the U.S. each year. In this webinar, Kathleen Navarro, PhD, presented on a recent Joint Fire Science Program study estimating the lifetime risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease from exposure to particulate matter (PM) from smoke. This analysis combined measured PM exposures on wildfires, estimated wildland firefighter breathing rates, and an exposure disease relationship for PM to estimate mortality of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality from lifetime exposure to PM. In addition, Zone Fuels AFMO, Megan Martinez, reviewed previous smoke research, as well as field-based experiences with successes and challenges of implementing smoke exposure mitigations.