UC Davis Researchers Release Alarming Findings On Wildfire Smoke Impacting Healthy Lungs
DAVIS (CBS13) - A team of researchers at UC Davis Health discovered wildfire smoke puts even healthy people at risk of developing lung disease.
The senior author of the study explained what surprised her the most and what she wants to be done so your lungs are protected. The 2020 wildfire season, what's been called the worst on record, prompted Angela Haczku to launch the study.
"I usually go out running. And I got tired and I was coughing after each run," said Angela Haczku, UC Davis Lung Center Research Director.
That prompted Haczku and a team of UC Davis Health researchers to launch a study on wildfire smoke. The professor of medicine and respiratory immunologist at UC Davis Health and her team collected blood during and after wildfire season. On some days, Northern California experienced the worst air quality in the world.
"The smoke was so heavy it reached the East coast," said Haczku.
Researchers discovered significant and concerning pathological changes happen in the lungs and immune system when you're exposed to wildfire smoke which could lead to lung disease. Haczku says the participants were initially healthy and that the changes crept up without any indications.
Haczku says participants didn't show any symptoms or require any hospital visits and yet the study indicates repeated exposure to wildfire smoke -can definitely lead to disease development, including asthma or COPD. She hopes the findings alert authorities to make changes to protect people from wildfire smoke.
"This is what the study's aimed at, to alert those who could actually have the power to be able to do something," said Haczku.
As wildfire smoke becomes a bigger health problem every year, researchers hope their scientific findings alert lawmakers, fire officials, and environmental experts and prompt better mitigation efforts.