By Rachel Clausen, JHBL Staff Member
For many days this past summer, a thick smog from the raging forest fires in Ontario and Quebec covered the Northeast of the United States.[1] These fires have continued to plague the Northern United States into the fall, causing hazy skies and poor air quality.[2] Consequently, the EPA warned, on multiple occasions, that the air in that region hazardous, and that “everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels .”[3]
Air pollution has been a problem in human societies since the days of the Roman Empire.[4] Today, it is generally acknowledged that air pollution causes a plethora of health problems.[5] Air pollution can cause illnesses such as asthma, heart disease, lung cancer, and is responsible for more than 6.5 million deaths annually.[6] Moreover, a September 2023 study has linked even short-term air pollution exposure to an increased risk of strokes.[7]
Air pollution consists of hazardous substances originating from both human and natural sources that are released into the air.[8] During the industrial revolution, air pollution became a significant problem as increased the use coal and the creation of automobiles caused an increase in particulate matter to disperse into the atmosphere.[9] However, natural causes of air pollution also exist, including wildfire smoke.[10] Large concentrations of particulate matter can cause health problems in humans, including asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancers.[11]
In 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act, which seeks to protect human health and the environment from air pollutants by establishing minimum national air quality standards .[12] The act strengthened on auto emission standards, created an acid rain program, required permits for the operation of major sources of pollutants, and established new technology-based standards for limiting air pollution.[13] While these regulations have reduced air pollution in the United States from human sources, it cannot address the problems that stem from natural causes.[14]
Climate change has increased the risk of naturally caused air pollution.[15] Between 1984 and 2015, the warmer and drier conditions created by climate change have caused forest fires to double the area of burned land.[16] Most recently, Quebec has had record setting forest fires throughout summer 2023, burning over 64,000 square miles of land.[17]
The continuation of increased wildfires may lead to increased general hospital visits.[18] New studies have shown that even a short-term exposure, meaning for five days or less, to poor air quality increases risk of an ischemic stroke up to 28%.[19] Ischemic strokes are, by far, the most common type of strokes and are caused when a blockage stops blood supply to brain.[20] While there is a strong and significant correlation between air pollution and ischemic strokes, there is still general lack of data addressing the difference between types of strokes and their causes.[21] However, controlled exposure studies have provided insight that air pollution is a major risk in certain cardiovascular diseases that can lead to blood clots causing these ischemic strokes.[22]
The general public should be more informed about the significant health dangers resulting from poor air quality, even if just for a short-term period. Proper measures on how to reduce exposure should be encouraged, specifically in areas where air pollutants are not a constant issue, as risks and safety-measures are more likely to be unknown. These measures may include staying indoors, limiting physical exertion, and using indoor air filters.[23] As climate change continues to increase hazards that contribute to air pollution, the public must become more aware of how to act in these situations to reduce their risk of having a stroke.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHBL or Suffolk University Law School.
Rachel Clausen is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. She received degrees in both environmental studies and political science from Salisbury University in 2021.
[1]See Madison Dong, et al., Maps: Tracking Air Quality and Smoke From Wildfires, N.Y. Times, Oct. 5, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/smoke-maps-canada-fires.html [https://perma.cc/86NS-ASDP] (providing maps highlighting areas of high smoke from Canada wildfires); see also Willem Marx, Canada’s record wildfire season continues to hammer U.S. air quality, NPR, July 1, 2023 https://www.npr.org/2023/07/01/1185652621/canada-wildfires-air-pollution [https://perma.cc/62P3-PKY5] (explaining how smoke from Canada is causing hazardous air quality in different regions).
[2] See Marx, supra note 1.
[3] Id. See also Lauren Mascarenhas & Nouran Salahieh, People urged to stay indoors as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to create unhealthy air quality from the Midwest to the Northeast, CNN (June 29, 2023), https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/us/canada-wildfire-smoke-great-lakes-thursday/index.html [https://perma.cc/TU54-XCEP] (describing what pollutants wildfire smoke carries and dangers of it).
[4] Jim Morrison, Air Pollution Goes Back Way Further Than You Think, Smithsonian Mag. (Jan 11, 2016), https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/air-pollution-goes-back-way-further-you-think-180957716/ [https://perma.cc/GQ54-6P84] (exploring the history of air pollution over 2,000 years).
[5] Air Pollution and Your Health, Nat’l Inst. of Env’t Sci., (Sep. 8, 2023), https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/index.cfm [https://perma.cc/M9WY-YFLD] (outlining many different diseases and health issues caused by air pollution).
[6] See id.; see also A Brief History of Pollution, NOAA, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_pollution/02history.html [https://perma.cc/NLA3-FGMM] (describing history of air pollution, specifically leading up to Clean Air Act).
[7] Ahmad Toubasi & Thuraya N. Al-Sayegh, Short-term Exposure to Air Pollution and Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, Neurology (Sep. 27, 2023), https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2023/09/27/WNL.0000000000207856 [https://perma.cc/T8VN-X4WV] (studying correlation between short-term exposure to air pollutants and strokes) ; see also Chrissy Sexton, Short-term exposure to air pollution increases stroke risk, Earth.com (Sep. 27, 2023), https://earth.com/news/short-term-exposure-to-air-pollution-increases-stroke-risk/ [https://perma.cc/R5W8-DN95] (explaining results of study linking short-term exposure to air pollution and strokes).
[8] See Nat’l Inst. of Env’t Sci., supra note 5.
[9] See NOAA, supra note 6; see also Health consequences of air pollution on populations, WHO, (Nov. 15, 2019) https://www.who.int/news/item/15-11-2019-what-are-health-consequences-of-air-pollution-on-populations [https://perma.cc/EY8Q-2MM8].
[10] See Nat’l Inst. of Env’t Sci., supra note 5 (listing various causes of air pollution, including natural causes).
[11] Id.
[12] 42 U.S.C. § 7401 (1970).
[13] See Richard K. Lattanzio, Clean Air Act: A Sumary of the Act and Its Major Requirements, CRS 1-2 (2022), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30853 [https://perma.cc/8QB4-Z77N].
[14] See Wildfire climate connection, NOAA (July 24, 2023) https://www.noaa.gov/noaa-wildfire/wildfire-climate-connection [https://perma.cc/3WGA-PZK6] (providing research explaining connection between climate change and wildfires).
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] See Ismail Shakil, Canadian wildfires could keep burning through winter, minister says, Reuters (Sep. 7, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/canadian-wildfires-could-keep-burning-through-winter-minister-2023-09-07/ [https://perma.cc/6FVE-DQTS] (describing extent of harm caused by Canadian wildfires that are continuing to burn); see also Mascarenhas, supra note 3.
[18] See Carolyn Black, et al., Wildfire Smoke Exposure and Human Health: Significant Gaps in Research for a Growing Public Health Issue, 55 Env’t Toxicology and Pharmacology 186 (2017) (exploring effect of wildfire smoke on human health and increased burden to healthcare). “the major impact of wildfire smoke on the healthcare system comes from patients seeking care for respiratory symptoms. Emergency visits for respiratory symptoms increase in wildfire smoke-affected areas.” Id.
[19] See Sexton, supra note 7.
[20] See Stroke, Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20350113#:~:text=An%20ischemic%20stroke%20occurs%20when,and%20prompt%20treatment%20is%20crucial [https://perma.cc/P8EF-9R6M] (describing causes, types, and risk factors of strokes).
[21] See Toubasi, supra note 7; see also Jamie Verhoeven, et al., Ambient air pollution and the risk of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, 5 Lancet Planetary Health 542, 548-49 (2021) (explaining limitations of studies having insufficient clinical detail). “Many studies have used all-cause stroke as an outcome, by combining the administrative codes for ischaemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke, despite the fact that these are different diseases with different causes and outcomes.” Verhoeven, supra note 21 at 549.
[22] See Kuan Ken Lee, et al., Air Pollution and Stroke, 20 J. Stroke 2, 8 (2018) (evaluating biological mechanisms that air pollutants exert effect on vasculature impacting strokes).
There is now substantial evidence linking air pollution and cardiovascular diseases including stroke. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that both short- and long-term exposure to air pollution increases the risk of stroke. Controlled exposure studies in man and experimental studies have provided insight into the pathobiological mechanisms leading to the induction of endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, platelet activation, and propensity for coagulation.
Id.
[23] See generally Robert Laumbach, et al., What can individuals do to reduce personal health risks from air pollution?, 7 J. Thoracic Disease 96 (2015) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311076/#:~:text=Personal%20exposure%20to%20ambient%20air,and%20near%20air%20pollution%20sources [https://perma.cc/SQX5-U6YD] (outlining efforts individuals can take in reducing personal exposure to air pollutants).