{"659013":{"#nid":"659013","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Western wildfires\u2019 health risks extend across the country","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost large U.S. wildfires occur in the West. But the smoke doesn\u0026rsquo;t stay there. It travels eastward, affecting communities hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from the fires. In fact, the majority of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/2021GH000457\u0022\u003Easthma-related deaths and emergency room visits attributed to fire smoke\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in the United States occur in eastern cities, according to a study in the September 2021\u0026nbsp;GeoHealth.\u0026nbsp;The big problem is fine particulate matter, tiny particles of ash, gases and other detritus suspended in smoke that are no more than 2.5 micrometers wide, small enough to lodge in the lungs and cause permanent damage.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/ng-dr-nga-lee-sally\u0022\u003ENga Lee (Sally) Ng\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;and colleagues found that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acs.estlett.9b00060\u0022\u003Esmoke particulate matter is more toxic than urban particulate matter\u003C\/a\u003E, \u0026ldquo;inducing about five times higher cellular oxidative stress,\u0026rdquo; Ng says. Oxidative stress damages cells and DNA in the body.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2022-06-22 13:10:17","changed_gmt":"2022-06-22 13:10:17","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/wildfire-health-risks-air-smoke-west-east-united-states","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"122021","name":"Nga Lee (Sally) Ng"},{"id":"147191","name":"wildfires"},{"id":"188347","name":"wildfire smoke"},{"id":"190826","name":"fine particulate matter"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}