Study - Eight Months Of Record-Smashing Fires In Canada In 2023 Meant Toxic Air Impacts In New Jersey

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June 7, 2023: Smoke from Canadian wildfires over Hackensack, N.J.

The alarming sepia-toned heavy smog blanketing the mid-Atlantic was just one disturbing sign of the Canadian wildfires’ impact in the region in June 2023. The fires also generated air pollution in the New Jersey-New York City area that was particularly dangerous to human health due to the chemical makeup and size of the particles that swept south with the smoky plume, according to recently published research by Rutgers University experts. Residents in previously polluted communities and those who can’t afford air conditioning or filters are particularly at risk, it notes, groups that tend to include more people of color.

The study is based on samples collected at the Piscataway campus on June 7, the worst day for wildfire smog in this region during the eight months of burns. Results of the study were included in a recent special wildfire edition of the online journal Environmental Science and Technology. “In toto, in the United States and globally, the impact of wildfires on air quality has been profound, to the extent of reversing or stagnating the progress made in air quality improvements over the past two decades,” reads the introduction to the study by a dozen researchers from Rutgers University, the University of South Carolina and the National Observatory in Athens, Greece, which also experienced record wildfires last year.

In New Jersey, emergency department asthma cases jumped nearly 63% on June 7 to 143 statewide, compared to the daily average of 88 the previous week, and close to 39% (122 cases) on June 8, according to a count provided by the state Department of Health. Asthma-related emergency visits remained at or below the recent average the next two days, the department said, but increased again to 118 on June 11.

In addition to examining the pollutants themselves, the Rutgers-led research team modeled the impacts of breathing air in this region on June 7, 2023. They found a “unique and complex chemical load” in the particles, with a mix of hydrocarbons and heavy metals, which raised concerns about harm to the brain, nervous and reproductive systems, in addition to the heart and lungs. Cedeño Laurent said researchers were able to collect a wealth of particle matter from that day and continue to explore how these specific pollutants can cause cellular change.

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https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/08/rutgers-researchers-say-2023-canadian-wildfire-pollution-especially-dangerous-new-jersey-new-york/