New Model Shows Fire Emissions Pose Health Threats Hundreds of Miles from the Flames

A new model by researchers in Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering shows that health hazards from fires go beyond the burned areas, and fire emissions can contribute to cardiovascular disease hundreds of miles from the flames. The researchers said the risks are greater and more widespread than most predictive models show. Spyros Pandis , professor of chemical engineering , warned that people downwind of a fire are not fully anticipating its possible effects on their health. "The evidence suggests that these emissions are just as bad for our health as that of other combustion sources, such as vehicle and industrial emissions," Pandis said. "The emissions from wildfires contain thousands of complex organic compounds, some of them carcinogenic." The emissions in question are biomass burning organic aerosols, which originate from burning plants, trees and other organic matter. Pandis, along with Allen Robinson , head and professor of mechanical engineering ; and Laura Posner - who graduated with a doctorate in chemical engineering - created a 3D model of biomass burning organic aerosols to track two types: primary organic aerosols and secondary organic aerosols. Their work was published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.