Impact of global short-term landscape fire sourced PM<sub>2.5</sub> exposure on child cause-specific morbidity: a study in multiple countries and territories.
cross_sectional · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41125599.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-64411-0 and PMC identifier 12546595.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Children are particularly vulnerable to landscape fire sourced fine particulate matter (LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub>), yet evidence on its health effects remains limited. Here we show that short-term exposure to LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> is associated with increased hospital admissions for multiple diseases in children and adolescents. We analysed daily hospital admission data from 1012 communities in seven countries/territories, linked to a high-resolution LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> dataset. Each 10 μg/m<sup>3</sup> increase in LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> was associated with elevated risks for all-cause (1.1%), respiratory (1.9%), infectious (1.5%), cardiovascular (2.9%), neurological (2.8%), diabetes (3.7%), cancer (1.5%), and digestive (0.8%) hospital admissions. Risks for respiratory, infectious, and neurological conditions increased even at low exposure, while others rose only above 15-20 μg/m<sup>3</sup>. Children aged 5-9 years and those in lower socioeconomic areas were especially affected. These findings highlight the health burden of LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> in young people and the urgent need to reduce exposure and protect vulnerable populations.
Medical subject headings
- Particulate Matter
- Environmental Exposure
- Air Pollutants