The health impacts of wildfires: Frequently asked questions
We compiled a list of all of the questions we’ve received from people in the LA area in the wake of the Eaton and Palisades fires earlier this month, and spoke to environmental health researchers Kari Nadeau, Joe Allen, Mary Rice, Amruta Nori-Sarma, and Vanessa Kerry to get answers to these pressing questions.
- Questions about Air Quality
- Questions about Children and Schools
- Questions about Household Cleanup
- General Questions
Air Quality
Q: Why is wildfire smoke harmful to people?
Wildfires produce a complex mixture of air pollutants, including fine particulate matter, referred to herein as PM2.5; this denotes small solid particles and liquid droplets in the air that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which is roughly 20-30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Since these particles are so small, they are easily inhaled deep into the respiratory system, which can cause a myriad of negative health effects. These can range from coughing and throat and nose irritation to exacerbated asthma symptoms, altered heart and lung function, heart attacks, and even premature mortality, particularly among those with underlying health conditions. One study estimated chronic health impacts from indoor exposures to various air pollutants and found PM2.5 to account for the greatest burden, making them especially important to protect ourselves from.
While there are ambient particles every day in the air we breathe, the high toxicity of wildfire smoke is due to a combination of the higher concentrations of particles in the air during and after wildfires, as well as differences in the chemical makeup of the particles that form during wildfires. Different material burnt leads to different types of particles, which can also cause different health harms.
More research is still needed about what might be in the air after an urban wildfire, and how long it will stay in the air, but we know that for weeks, if not longer, exposure to particles in the air is a risk for everyone.
Q: Who should wear a mask and when?
Experts are advising everyone in proximity to the burn areas to wear a mask out of an abundance of caution. We recommend wearing a mask while outside, for at least a month after the fire. It is most important to mask if you see or smell smoke in the air, and the mask should be at least an N95 (or KN95). Surgical or cloth masks used during COVID will not protect from the fine particles contained in wildfire smoke.
For those who are more at risk of adverse effects (include people with underlying respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, children, infants, pregnant people, and people over 65), we recommend masking for up to 100 miles away from the fire.
One way to think about exposure is exposure over time within closer proximity to the burn area: so, the longer you will be outside, and the closer you are to the burn area, the more important it is to wear a mask. To limit exposure, it is best to limit time outdoors, especially doing strenuous physical activity.
This recent article from the NY Times features recommendations from Dr. Kari Nadeau and Dr. Joe Allen, and has important tips for choosing a mask, indoor air purifiers, and even fitting masks for young children.
Q: For how long after the fires are contained/put out, should we continue to mask outdoors when the AQI is yellow or above?
Experts recommend masking for at least a month after the fires are contained or put out.
Q: Which air purifiers are best for filtering out pollutants from wildfire smoke inside your home?
You want to use an air purifier with a HEPA filter, which will be effective for cleaning particles in smoke from inside your home. Your air purifier doesn’t need to have a UV or ionization option. If you’re looking for specific brands, check out this NY Times Wirecutter Review for some recommendations.
You can look for the ‘clean air delivery rate’, or CADR, that the manufacturer should report. This is an indicator of the effectiveness of the device, so you can make sure it’s sized correctly. Our rule-of-thumb is to look for a CADR of about 300 for a 500 square foot room.
For those who are closest to the burn area with a home directly impacted by soot and ash, there are also air purifiers that have HEPA filters combined with an activated carbon or activated charcoal filters. These air purifiers can help capture the particles (the HEPA filter) and also gases (the activated carbon filter).
Also, if you have central air conditioning or heating in your home, upgrade your HVAC filter to a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13-rated filter or higher. MERV ratings signify an air filter’s effectiveness at lowering airborne particles and pollutants, determined by the smallest particle it’s capable of trapping (in microns). It is also recommended to always change your filter immediately following a fire, as wildfire smoke can affect filter performance.
To ensure the air inside your home is healthy, Healthy Buildings recommends following the “hierarchy” of good indoor air quality, which focuses first on source control, then ventilation, followed by air cleaning. Here we present strategies specific to wildfire smoke:
- First, you want to limit the amount of polluted outdoor air that makes its way indoors. Start by closing all windows and doors, and ideally seal up any noticeable cracks or openings in exterior walls (i.e., reduced infiltration).
- If possible, do not use swamp coolers or whole house fans that bring in outside air. In this case of wildfires, you actually want reduced ventilation.
- Next, use an indoor air filter to clean the particles from your indoor air, this can be a portable HEPA air filter or a MERV13 or higher filter on your central air system (or a combination of both).
Learn more here: https://healthybuildings.hsph.harvard.edu/protecting-your-health-from-wildfire-smoke-spotlight-on-filters/
Q: How far away from the fires do we need to be concerned about health impacts and air quality?
– If I live in between two burn zones, does this mean I am safe or more at risk?
– If I was out of town when the fires happened, is it safe to return home if it is only a mile from the burn site?
– How far from the burn zone is considered a safe proximity?
– How far might the polluted air travel?
Many of these questions are difficult to answer because there is still a lot of uncertainty. Even people 50-100 miles away from the affected area could experience adverse health effects from the fires. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, along with UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and other local partners, has just announced a 10 year study to investigate the health effects of the fires. I encourage you to reach out to Dr. Joe Allen and his study team to request your property be tested and monitored by emailing forhealth@hsph.harvard.edu.
In general, we’d recommend using these 3 questions as a guide to determine the level of precaution you might want to take:
- Did you see it? If you saw – or still see – visible dust or ash, you should take the extra precautions we provided in this document.
- Can you smell it? If you are still smelling smoke and/or ash and/or ‘fire smell’, that is most likely the off-gassing of chemicals that have absorbed into materials in your home or school. If you can smell it, you should take extra precautions.
- Can you sense it? If you are unsure, we recommend purchasing one of the portable air quality sensors listed in our guide. Look for one that measures airborne particles (PM2.5) and airborne gases (TVOCs). These are imperfect measures, but will give you a sense of how your space is being impacted or not. For more information on these sensors, and how to interpret the data, you can read this article. The article is written for businesses, but the information on sensors and what they measure are relevant for homes and offices, too: Harvard Business Review: It’s Time for Companies to Monitor Workplace Air Quality
Regardless of your distance from the burn zone, watch out for symptoms of smoke exposure such as dizziness, coughing, chest pain. These symptoms can occur even 5 days after exposure to an AQI of 80+. If you experience these symptoms, please see a doctor immediately.
Q: How can we monitor dangerous airborne substances which aren’t included in the AQI shown by most weather websites?
– Can you recommend an air quality tester?
The Air Quality Index (AQI) as published by airnow.gov is an excellent way to see what is generally happening with air quality outside your home, but it might not be accurate down to your exact location, and it can’t capture the quality inside your home. The AQI measures ground-level ozone, particulate matter (fine PM2.5 and coarse PM10), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
To check the safety of the indoor air in your home, you will want to look for an air quality monitor that measures fine particles (PM2.5, in addition to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Read a recent NY Times Wirecutter review of air monitors here.
Q: Ash is everywhere, is this toxic?
The ash could be potentially toxic. Complex chemical reactions from burning things like paint, furniture, building materials, cars, electronics, and more can potentially make ash toxic. A lot of items in homes are made of petroleum and different composites that can be extremely hazardous when they combust. People who are involved in recovering ash could face increased health risks from inhaling potential toxins. Scientists are still trying to understand the health impacts of those chemical changes on human health.
Residents should not attempt to remove or clean hazardous fire debris themselves. Post-fire house debris is hazardous because it can contain toxic materials like asbestos, lead, mercury, chemicals from household products, and other heavy metals which are released into the ash and debris when structures burn. These materials pose a risk to health if inhaled or handled improperly. Planning is underway for Debris Removal Activities in coordination with the County Office of Emergency Management and our State and Federal Partners. Residents should check recovery.lacounty.gov frequently for updates on the debris removal program.
Once the local government has determined that it is safe to re-enter your property, or if your home was not located in a burn zone, you may still want to consider hiring a professional clean-up crew. There are fire remediation companies that can be hired to help assess your home for fire or smoke damage, support clean up and advise on safety.
If you enter a property with visible ash to examine the damage or recovery items, it is important to mask, wear gloves, and be as cautious as possible. We recommend wearing a high-grade respirator (ie, mask), specifically a P100+multi-gas mask. These can be purchased online and at local hardware stores.
Children and Schools
Q: How does wildfire smoke impact young children — particularly during pregnancy — and what can communities do to protect children both during and after a wildfire?
Although wildfire smoke affects everyone – it is especially harmful to young children and pregnant persons. During pregnancy, exposure to wildfire smoke can trigger the body’s inflammatory response, which can lead to problems such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, low birth weight, and preterm birth. Preterm birth is associated with poor health outcomes later in life, including impaired cognition, reduced growth, and chronic health issues.
Young children are also at risk of adverse health effects during and after wildfire episodes. Children have higher rates of respiration and more active systems than adults, making them more likely to inhale high levels of harmful particles during outdoor playtime. Young children have increased rates of emergency visits for asthma after exposure and higher rates of upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Wildfire smoke exposure is also related to poor learning outcomes. A nationwide study found that students with exposure to smoke a year leading up to a test, particularly on school days, had lower average scores, the more smoke they were exposed to.
To protect children during and after a wildfire, children should wear N95 masks, or if they are too young to mask, they should have as little exposure to outdoor air as possible. Children should also be exposed to clean air spaces. Schools, daycares, business, and other places where children spend time should have clean air shelters with well-sealed windows, and central air systems should be fitted with filters that are rated MERV13 or higher. Filters in portable units must be changed after a wildfire since reactions with the smoke can cause them to be more ineffective.
Learn more about the impact of wildfire smoke on children in this new brief from the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University:
Q: How important do you think it is for schools to have a carbon filter (in addition to HEPA) in the air purifiers in each classroom?
The most important thing is to ensure that there is good filtration in the classroom by upgrading and changing out filters in the air handlers (e.g., MERV13 filters) and using portable air cleaners with a HEPA filter. Each classroom does not necessarily need to have a portable air cleaner with a carbon filter in addition to HEPA.
HEPA filters are excellent at capturing airborne particles, and carbon filters can be effective at capturing gases. However, there are limitations to carbon filters (e.g., most don’t have a lot of carbon and the filter can ‘saturate’ very quickly (meaning, they no longer capture gases); it’s hard to predict when they will saturate because it depends on many unknowable factors; they are expensive.)
We would recommend the decision of whether to use carbon filters be based on how impacted the school was. For example, if your school is close to the burn area and had visible soot/ash, it’s likely that porous materials absorbed smoke and can off-gas for many weeks. These schools need a deep-cleaning, and should consider discarding porous materials and, if not discarded, these materials should be given time to off-gas (this requires good ventilation). After cleaning, and as an added precaution, highly impacted schools could opt for these portable air cleaners with carbon – just look for one with HEPA filters and as much carbon as you can find. There are models that have 15-30 pounds of activated carbon.
Q: Is it safe to send kids to school, particularly as clean-up and rebuilding begin?
Schools that are impacted should be thoroughly cleaned before re-entry. Ideally air, water, dust, and soil testing should be completed, in particular for schools nearest to the burn area. In addition, we recommend enhanced filtration after the cleaning, and installing air quality monitors in classrooms to measure airborne dust (e.g., PM2.5) and airborne chemicals (e.g. TVOCs).
Q: Do we need to get rid of school supplies that were exposed to ash and smoke?
This will depend greatly on where your home/school was located and how close it was to the burn zone and smoke/ash from the fires. If you want to act out of an abundance of caution, items that should be discarded include items made from porous materials, or items that easily absorb smoke. These include paper items such as schoolbooks, fabric-based materials such as backpacks and clothes, and plastic-based items.
Here are some resources to look at when deciding what items to get rid of or how to proceed with cleaning:
- https://calrecycle.ca.gov/disaster/wildfires/homeowners/,
- https://www.maca.gov.nt.ca/sites/maca/files/resources/returning_home_safely_after_a_wildfire_-_may_2023.pdf
Household Cleanup
Q: What do you recommend to reduce toxins that are brought inside from pets?
After going on walks outdoors, wipe your pets’ paws and coat with a damp cloth. Also consider bathing pets more frequently if they are going outside a lot. Also, continue to damp wipe areas of the home where outdoor dust can be brought in easily (e.g. entryways), and vacuum regularly. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter that is air-sealed. Some vacuums will pick up soot and dirt and capture the big particles but then redistribute smaller particles back into the air. This article explains why you want a HEPA filter, and why finding a vacuum that is air-sealed is important: Are HEPA Vacuums Worth It? Think Twice Before Spending Big. | Reviews by Wirecutter
LA County put together this helpful fact sheet about caring for pets after the fires: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet/docs/WildfirePetSafetyFactSheet.pdf
Q: What household items need to be replaced?
This will depend greatly on where your home was located and how close it was to the burn zone and smoke/ash from the fires. Sifting through debris is not recommended as it can be very dangerous. LA County has a helpful resource about what their cleanup teams are removing from damaged properties here: https://recovery.lacounty.gov/returning-after-fire-faq/
If your home was not in a burn zone but you are worried that your home was exposed to smoke/debris from nearby burns, you should discard most food items, including jarred items that may have been exposed to heat or smoke. Cleaning products, paint, batteries, and electronics should be thrown out to mitigate risk as well.
Please check the LA County Recovery website for details about property cleanups and timelines for your neighborhood: https://recovery.lacounty.gov/returning-after-fire-faq/
There are also fire remediation companies that can be hired to help assess your home and belongings for fire or smoke damage, support clean up, and advise on safety.
Q: How do you clean surfaces in your house?
Residents should not attempt to remove or clean hazardous fire debris themselves. Post-fire house debris is hazardous because it can contain toxic materials like asbestos, lead, mercury, chemicals from household products, and other heavy metals which are released into the ash and debris when structures burn. These materials pose a risk to health if inhaled or handled improperly. Planning is underway for Debris Removal Activities in coordination with the County Office of Emergency Management and our State and Federal Partners. Residents should check recovery.lacounty.gov frequently for updates on the debris removal program.
If your home was not in a burn zone, but you are worried about smoke/ash inside your home, please keep the following tips in mind. Different types of surfaces need to be cleaned differently. When cleaning, always wear household dishwashing gloves, long sleeve shirts, and long pants, to avoid the ash irritating your skin. We recommend wearing a high-grade respirator (ie, mask), specifically a P100+multi-gas mask. These can be purchased online and at local hardware stores.
Also wear safety goggles, not glasses, so that ash won’t get in your eyes. To clean up ash, try gentle sweeping and then wet mopping, trying not to stir the ash into the air. HEPA filter vacuums can be used, but do not try to use a standard household vacuum. Ash can be discarded in the regular trash, but make sure to put it in a plastic trash bag first so the ash doesn’t blow away. For more recommendations, please visit the LA County Recovery guidelines for clean-up after a fire: https://recovery.lacounty.gov/returning-after-a-fire-public-health/
General
Q: What other reliable sources of current health info can we turn to in the coming months?
Aside from the resources that we have included in this newsletter, be sure to stay up to date on current health information by looking for articles with new research. There is a lot of new health information that is shared online as more research about the effects of the fires is conducted. Also, be sure to check local and state government websites, that have a lot of helpful information about how to best protect yourself.
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Featured in this article
New course brings public health and design students together to learn what makes buildings “healthy”
Joe Allen, Associate Professor of Exposure Assessment Science in the Department of Environmental Health, has taught the Healthy Buildings course at the Harvard T.H. Chan school of Public Health since 2016. Over the years he has had many students at the Harvard School of Design take the class. But this spring will mark the first time that the class is officially cross-listed at both Schools and be co-taught with Dr. Allen and GSD’s Dr. Holly W. Samuelson.
“There’s magic when public health students and design students are in the same room,” says Allen, “because it forces interactions between the fields that unfortunately haven’t always happened historically. Very few universities have both a design school and public health school, so we have an incredible opportunity to merge the disciplines right on our own campus.”
In the class, public health and design students will explore building strategies that can improve indoor air quality, help prevent the spread of airborne infectious disease, reduce exposure to toxic materials, improve thermal resilience, and support overall well-being, while also examining the role buildings play in our energy system, the cascading health impacts of associated air pollution and climate change, and building design and technologies that can support climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and climate resilience.
This course is jointly offered by Harvard Chan as EH 252 and the GSD as SCI 6361. It will meet for the first half of the semester (January 30–March 6, 2025) at Harvard Chan and the second half (March 13-April 24, 2025) at the GSD.
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Air pollution in India linked to millions of deaths
A new study published today in Lancet Planetary Health found that long-term exposure to air pollution increased deaths by 1.5 million deaths per year in India, when compared to conditions if India met the World Health Organization’s recommendations for safe exposure.
Air pollution consisting of particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, PM2.5, can enter the lungs and bloodstream and is a major health risk in India. Researchers have now examined the link between these particles and mortality over a ten-year period (2009-2019). Unlike previous studies, this study was across all of India and used a new model of PM2.5 for every 1x1km of the country.
“We found that every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 concentration led to an 8.6 percent increase in mortality,” said co-author Joel Schwartz, PhD, faculty member in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The increase was even larger for 10 microgram per cubic meter increases in PM2.5 from levels below the Indian guidelines of 40 micrograms per cubic meter.”
“The results show that current guidelines in India are not sufficient to protect health. Stricter regulations and measures to reduce emissions are of utmost importance,” said co-author Petter Ljungman of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
“Delhi may get the headlines, but this is a problem all over India, and nationwide efforts are needed. Coal burning electric plants need scrubbers, crop burning needs to be limited, and most importantly, the government needs to recognize this as a major issue,” said Dr. Schwartz.
The study also highlights that the entire population of India lives in areas where PM2.5 levels exceed WHO guidelines. Hence 1.4 billion people are exposed year after year to air pollution that can negatively affect health. In some regions, levels of up to 119 micrograms per cubic meter were measured, significantly higher than what both the WHO and India consider safe.
The study is a collaboration between researchers from universities in India, Sweden, USA, Israel and Italy.
Publication: ‘Estimating the effect of annual PM2-5 exposure on mortality in India: a difference-in-differences approach’, Suganthi Jaganathan, Massimo Stafoggia, Ajit Rajiva, Siddhartha Mandal, Shweta Dixit, Jeroen de Bont, Gregory A Wellenius, Kevin J Lane, Amruta Nori-Sarma, Itai Kloog, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Poornima Prabhakaran, Joel Schwartz, Petter Ljungman, The Lancet Planetary Health, Published December 2024. DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00248-1
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Megan Solan Presents at SETAC 45th Annual Meeting
Dr. Megan Solan, a fellow in Jin-Ah Park’s Lab, presented the poster entitled “Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) Induces Cytochrome P450 1A1 and 1B1 Expression and Enzymatic Activity in Primary Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells (HBEC) Cultured in Air-Liquid Interface (ALI)” at the SETAC North America 45th annual meeting on October 20-24, 2024.
“The research I presented at the SETAC annual meeting focused on Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA). PFHxA is a type of PFAS, a group of chemicals often called ‘forever chemicals’ because they don’t break down easily,” Dr. Solan explained. “PFHxA has recently been found in household dust, which inspired us to study the effects of exposure on airway epithelial cells that protect us from airborne contaminants. Our research showed that PFHxA exposure increases mRNA expression of Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes, which are crucial for metabolizing toxicants and drugs into a form which can be excreted by the body. This is significant because PFAS are known for their persistence in the body, raising questions on why PFHxA would affect CYP450 enzymes without being metabolized.”
Dr. Solan notes that PFAS are a hot topic at SETAC conferences, with attendees including consultants and EPA scientists who influence risk assessments and legislation.
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Climate Week NYC Roundup
September 27, 2024 — Today marks the end of Climate Group’s 2024 Climate Week in New York, and the Department of Environmental Health was well represented among the many panels and discussions, with appearances from Joe Allen, Vanessa Kerry, Gaurab Basu, Caleb Dresser, and Skye Flanigan. We had the chance to catch up briefly with Joe Allen and Skye Flanigan about how the week went. Read their answers below, as well as highlights from #ClimateWeekNYC 2024!
Joe Allen
Dr. Allen and Dr. Lauren Ferguson (postdoctoral Fellow on the Healthy Buildings team) were part of the Climate Group’s Climate Week Executive Series and participated in a Roundtable on: Building resilience: Putting people first using holistic approaches to renovation.
Joe and Lauren in front of the new JPMorganChase HQ building in NYC.
Joe Allen shares, “This photo (above) is of Lauren and I in front of the new JPMorganChase Headquarters building in New York. I advised JPMC on the design of this building, which is the first all-electric tower in NYC, and it also has enhanced ventilation and filtration, healthier materials, and real-time monitoring, showing you can have both a healthy and green building!”
What was your biggest takeaway from #ClimateWeekNYC ?
Buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption – and in New York City, where Climate Week was held, it’s 70%. And, yet, you had to work to find the buildings conversations during the week. Addressing climate change runs through our buildings, so I would love to see this being a more central theme going forward.
What do you think should be number one on a global Climate To Do list ?
There isn’t a “#1” – this is an “all-in” moment. We need to focus [our research] on adaptation, resilience, mitigation, building decarbonization, and new technologies… all with an equity and health lens.
Why is climate change so important to be part of the Public Health conversation?
I’d flip this – it’s critical that public health is part of the climate change conversation because our science and our values and our focus and our passionate students have a vital role to play.
Skye Flanigan
Skye Flanigan, Program Director Harvard Chan C-CHANGE spoke on a panel hosted by BSR on “The Climate & Health Nexus: Embedding Equity through Community Engagement”, alongside Phil Dahlin, Global Director of Sustainability at Johnson & Johnson, among others.
Skye Flanigan speaking with other panelists at the BSR talk.
Skye with Phil Dahlin, Global Director of Sustainability at Johnson & Johnson.
What was your biggest takeaway from #ClimateWeekNYC ?
The feeling on the ground is that we are at half-time toward solving the climate crisis and there is still much more to be done… There was also a lot of talk about the use of AI, and the need for better measurements and benchmarking on the health impacts of climate change.
What do you think should be number one on a global Climate To Do list ?
It is imperative that we focus on adaptation strategies and solutions because climate change is not in the future – it is here now, and the extreme weather events that we are currently dealing with around the world are putting communities’ health and wellbeing at risk.
Why is climate change so important to be part of the Public Health conversation?
Climate change is accelerating the health disparities that have already existed in the world. We need to be thinking critically about how to address those disparities.
Some More EH Highlights from the Week:
Gaurab Basu
Dr. Basu joined the “Climate Rx: Preventive Healthcare and Decarbonization” panel at the New York Times Climate Forward Summit to talk about ways we can engage in preventative healthcare for climate solutions. The annual event focuses on frank discussions about political and policy challenges, and new technologies that might help curb global warming. Watch Dr. Basu speak in the panel here.
From left: Dr. Victor Dzau, President of the National Academy of Medicine; Dr. Cheryl Holder, Co-Chair of Florida Clinicians for Climate Action; and Dr. Gaurab Basu, Primary care physician and director of education and policy at the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Basu also joined an AAMC discussion on how academic medical centers & community partners can address climate change and promote environmental justice.
From left to right: Gaurab Basu, Cheryl Holder, Victor Dzau, Sweta Chakraborty, Joris Silon.
Caleb Dresser
Dr. Dresser met with the Americares team, who collaborated with C-CHANGE on the Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit.
From left to right: Nathaniel Matthews-Trigg, Paulette Frank, Crystal Decuir, Caleb Dresser.
Vanessa Kerry
Dr. Kerry spoke to the United Nations General Assembly, at one of the few climate change and health events to happen at an UNGA; incredibly the last one was five years ago! At the UN meeting, the World Health Organization brought together the past, present and future COP presidencies – as well as Ministers from other member states – to discuss continued collaboration and progress on climate change and health.
Vanessa Kerry speaking at the UNGA this week. Click photo to watch video in on Instragram.
Dr. Kerry wrote on Instagram of the meeting, “This is not just a health issue anymore. It is an everything issue – our economic, social and national security depends on good health.”
Watch a video from her speech here.
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New NIH-funded center to bring community-based solutions for climate resilience and health equity to US and Africa
September 23, 2024 — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last week the award of a P20 grant to fund a new Center based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, named the Center for Climate: Equitable and Accessible Research-based Testing for Health (C-EARTH). The Principal Investigators on the grant are Dr. Kari Nadeau, Chair of the Department of Environmental Health and John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies; Dr. Christopher Golden, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Planetary Health; and Dr. Mary Rice, newly-appointed Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) and Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Respiratory Health. The aim of this new center is to bring sustainable climate solutions to heat stressed, low-income communities around the globe.
Climate change presents immense challenges to communities, from urban neighborhoods to rural coastal communities, as rising temperatures affect not only the health of people, but also present the need for new infrastructure to protect communities from rising waters, and help preserve vulnerable industries, such as fishing. The award will fund a three-year pilot project to create the Center and implement community-based cooling solutions in three low-income communities in Boston, Madagascar, and South Africa.
The C-EARTH project involves collaboration across departments at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including the Departments of Environmental Health, Nutrition, and Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well as with Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). In addition to this cross-department work, the Center aims to prioritize collaboration with communities directly, to hear their specific needs and respond through working together to develop solutions on the ground.
“It is a pleasure and privilege to work with the communities, the NIH, and the investigators on this ‘one of a kind’ NIH award for the Harvard Chan School,” said Nadeau. “This Center brings together communities and multidisciplinary researchers around the world to test solutions for the direct and indirect effects of climate change, including reducing heat-related illness and improving nutrition in food for the most impacted communities. I am grateful for the funding for all of us, and I am excited about the potential for deep and wide impact through collaborative, team science between public communities, Harvard Chan School, HMS, and BIDMC.”
“Having spent the past 25 years working in Madagascar, I have been able to witness the impacts of climate and environmental change on food systems and human health,” said Golden. “Much of my team’s work has focused on documenting these impacts, and I am so excited to begin working on solutions. Joining forces with such great collaborators across our university campus will help us to make lasting solutions in the places that need it most.”
“Community engagement is critical to developing and testing climate and health interventions that work for the people who need them most,” said Rice. “Our multi-disciplinary implementation, solutions, and evaluation core will help determine which interventions are most effective and work with people on the ground in Boston, Madagascar, and South Africa to deliver community-driven solutions.”
The award is part of a new NIH initiative to support the development of new Climate Change and Health Research Centers (CCHRCs), emphasizing transdisciplinary research to examine the impacts of climate change on health and to develop action-oriented solutions to protect the health of individuals, communities, and nations from the hazards posed by climate change.
C-EARTH will interact with the CAFE Research Coordinating Center led by Francesca Dominici, Greg Wellenius, and Amruta Nori-Sarma, which is NIH funded as part of this new initiative last year as a collaboration between Boston University School of Public Health and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
About the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
For more than 100 years, the Department of Enviromental Health has advanced the fields of environmental and occupational health through hands-on training and translating evidence-based research into policy and practice. We work to guide public discourse with national and international leaders, on the most pressing environmental health challenges in the twenty-first century. To learn more about the department, please visit: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/environmental-health/
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P20TW013028. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Mary Rice announced as the new director of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE and faculty at Department of Environmental Health
September 18, 2024 —The Department of Environmental Health is excited to welcome Mary B. Rice as the Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Respiratory Health and director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE), effective October 1, 2024. Dr. Rice is a pulmonary and critical care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and focuses her research on the impacts of exposure to air pollution and climate change on the respiratory health of children and adults.
As a physician and environmental health researcher, Rice has been at the forefront of national policy discussions on air pollution, climate change, and health. She has testified before Congress as an expert witness on the health effects of air pollution and the benefits of air quality and carbon regulations. She currently serves on the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Policy Committee and previously chaired the American Thoracic Society (ATS)’s Environmental Health Policy Committee. She is the chair-elect of the Environmental, Occupational and Population Health Assembly of the ATS. In 2020, ATS awarded her the Jo Rae Wright Award for Outstanding Science.
“I am thrilled to pass the baton to Dr. Rice as the new leader of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE,” said Dr. Kari Nadeau, chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School and interim director of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE. “Her experience as a clinician, researcher, and expert in environmental exposures—especially the impact she’s made in public health by presenting her research in ways that are actionable to policymakers and the public alike—makes her the ideal person to lead this work.”
“I look forward to supporting Dr. Rice and the team so they can build from the Center’s auspicious past and continue its critical mission to build a healthy, just, and sustainable world,” Nadeau added.
Read the announcement letter from Dean Andrea Bacarelli here.
Read the full announcement on the Harvard Chan C-CHANGE website.
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Hot & Dusty Days Increase Diabetes Hospitalization in Kuwait
September 18 — Heat and particulate air pollution may increase risk of diabetes-related hospitalizations, according to a recent paper published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. The study, co-authored by Barrak Alahmad, Research Fellow at the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is one of the first to look at the effects of multiple environmental exposures on the disease, and could have many implications for future research.
The findings indicate that high temperatures and dusty conditions are significant environmental factors that affect the health of patients. In Kuwait, where temperatures can reach up to 50°C (122°F) and dust storms are frequent, the research revealed that increased exposure to both heat and dust—either separately or together—heightens the risk of hospitalization for diabetes patients.
While the study did not pinpoint the mechanism of disease that may be causing the increase in hospitalizations, Professor Fahd Al-Mulla, Director of the Research Division at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, which partnered with Harvard Chan School on the research, noted that high temperatures lead to increased heat stress, which worsens glucose control and raises the risk of complications such as foot ulcers and fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Fine dust particles also cause vascular damage and increase inflammation, further complicating the condition of diabetes patients. Al-Mulla emphasized the need to integrate these environmental factors into health practices and policies to ensure healthcare systems are prepared to manage the growing effects of climate change on patients with diabetes.
Dust collection process showing (clockwise from left) a sampling location in Kuwait, custom- designed Harvard Impactors, and the acceleration jet and polyurethane foam that can enable accurate dust collection (the arrow shows a large amount of accumulated dust in the rectangular yellow surface). Photo: Barrak Alahmad.
As part of the study, researchers collected daily dust samples using specialized devices —custom-built on the Harvard Chan School’s campus in Boston — over a two-year period from 2017 to 2019. The devices were then sent back to The School and analyzed to determine pollution levels and the types of particulate matter. Additionally, temperature data was collected from meteorological stations.
Alahmad shared that this study could change the way we think about risk factors for chronic conditions like diabetes. “You would always think about the exercise, nutrition, diet, and the common traditional risk factors for diabetes [and] genetics,” he said. “But in a place like Kuwait, we’ve got extreme temperatures that are unprecedented, often exceeding 50 degrees Celsius during the summers, and because Kuwait is a desert country, it sees massive dust storms that blanket the entire country, increasing the levels of air pollution as well.”
Photo: Barrak Alahmad, Research Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Kuwait presented a unique opportunity to study the effects of heat, dust, and air pollution together. As extreme heat becomes an issue not only in desert climates like Kuwait, but also around the world, this study could be a precursor of things to come in other countries, like in the U.S., where diabetes also affects a large proportion of the population. Alahmad says of the study, “The direct relevance is for places that are hot and dusty, and there are other places in the world that are also hot and dusty. They might not be as extreme as we are seeing Kuwait, but Kuwait opens a window to a potential future, because we know that temperatures are increasing and the droughts are making dust storms more frequent.”
As wildfires continue to be an issue in the Western United States, Alahmad sees parallels between those hot and dusty desert conditions and the smoke pollution that affected many people in the U.S. this summer. This research substantiates how multiple environmental exposures occurring simultaneously, like wildfire smoke and hot days, could have an adverse impact on health.
Another unique aspect of this research was the data collection method. The air quality data was collected by devices custom-made to withstand the harsh conditions of Kuwait. Alahmad explains, “These devices were made here in [the Department of Environmental Health’s Landmark campus], Boston, and we shipped to Kuwait, where we operated them for 2 years. Every day the samples were collected and shipped to us in Boston. Then, here in our labs, we examined the composition of air pollution in Kuwait.”
The devices allowed Alahmad and his team to determine the type of pollution that was affecting air quality each day. “Many devices just give you a number (of airborne particulate matter concentration) for each day,” he said, which doesn’t allow researchers to know if the particles were from traffic, smoke, dust, or a combination.
“We cannot understand the total effect of the environment on individuals and populations unless we look at all aspects,” Alahmad said, “We can’t examine only one aspect of the environment at a time.”
Alahmad hopes to investigate this effect further, particularly how extreme heat and dusty conditions affect workers. Kuwait is home to many migrant workers, he says, and most people who are exposed to extreme temperatures and dust storms are people who work outdoors. While the conventional wisdom may be that workers are young and healthy, Alahmad says that workers are actually getting older and older. “People are working at later stages in their lives because of financial stress, and other factors. So, we see an aging population and we see a lot of diabetics in the workforce.”
The general public can mitigate their exposure to heat and dust by staying indoors, locking windows, or using air filters, but as Alahmad points out, “If someone is a construction worker, there’s no escape other than [maybe] a mask.” Even masks, he says, may not be adequate protection.
More research is needed to understand how these exposures affect outdoor workers, whether in Kuwait, or in the United States, where OSHA recently proposed new rules for construction and other outdoor workers to reduce the health impacts of exposure to extreme heat.
View this study in the News:
- DDI new study reveals severe health effects of dust and heat on diabetic patients, Arab Times Online
- New study shows the impact of dust storms, extreme heat on diabetics, Kuwait Times
This study was supported by a grant from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science grant CN23- 13MM- 1795 awarded to BA. The sampling work was supported by the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program #595: Pulmonary Health and Deployment to Southwest Asia and Afghanistan, from the United States (US) Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research and Development, Clinical Science Research and Development, Cooperative Studies Program. This publication was also made possible by US Environmental Protection Agency grant RD- 835872, and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration grant 80NSSC19K0225 awarded to PK.
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Jin-Ah Park Discusses Asthma Findings on Allergy Video
In a recent YouTube video from the Allergy journal, Dr. Jin-Ah Park discusses the NIEHS-funded study on Transcriptomic profiles of well-differentiated airway epithelial cells in response to environmental triggers of asthma exacerbation that she co-authored with Dr. Diane R. Gold.
Marrocco, A., Mitchel, J.A., Parker, M., et al. (2024), Transcriptomic profiles of well-differentiated airway epithelial cells in response to environmental triggers of asthma exacerbation. Allergy. https://doi.org/10.1111/all.16226
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Faria Khan Wins Kocaeli Travel Award
Dr. Faria Khan, Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Jin-Ah Park’s lab, was selected as one of the recipients of the 2024 Kocaeli International Travel Award, earlier this spring, and recently returned from her trip to Turkey.
Faria shared, “For this travel award, I visited two universities in Turkey: Kocaeli Medical University in Izmit and Nisantasi University in Istanbul. The program involved meeting with the students, faculty, dean and rectors of the two universities, in addition to lab and hospital visits. I was also able to deliver scientific talks to the faculty and staff and engaged with students on discussions related to career option in science.”
The Kocaeli University Medical School International Travel Award is designed for postdoctoral fellows and research associates at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who are interested in building up their expertise in presenting research, teaching, consulting, setting up a research lab, and organizing workshops. The Award aims to help postdoctoral fellows and research associates become more independent in their research field through providing such professional opportunities in one of the renowned Medical Schools of Turkey. The Kocaeli Travel Award is managed by the PDA’s Awards Committee Chair.