The health effects of wildfire smoke | Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Worker approaches a blazing wildfire in a forest.

DEOHS wildfire experts are investigating how smoke affects our health and strategies to reduce its impacts

DEOHS wildfire smoke experts were featured in a recent webinar hosted by the UW School of Public Health

Wildfires are natural and inevitable in our forestlands. Climate change is making our wildfire seasons longer, hotter and more dangerous.

The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) has a long history of leading research into the impacts of wildfires on human health.

Through our research and outreach activities, DEOHS faculty and students are building our understanding of how wildfire smoke can damage our health and the best ways to protect people and communities from harm.

Learn about our impact, research and expertise below.

Our impact

Downtown Seattle in a haze of wildfire smoke with trees in the foreground.

HEPA air cleaners could prevent deaths from wildfire smoke

A wildfire smoke event in 2020 may have led to nearly 100 deaths in Washington, but there are steps we can take now to avert future deaths, new DEOHS research suggests

Five people (four in N95 masks) pose with cardboard picture frame cutouts saying "#ColorOutSmoke" and "I [heart] MY AIRSHED."

Population health grants boost wildfire and climate research

Three DEOHS teams awarded new pilot grants from UW Population Health Initiative

DEOHS Professor Elena Austin stands in a parking lot outside a school holding an air monitoring instrument.

Monitoring air quality in schools

Does ultrafine air pollution infiltrate schools near Sea-Tac Airport? DEOHS researchers partner with cities in South King County to find out.

Three people with face masks on stand in front of a fence with houses in background. Person in middle holds a clipboard and pen, person on right gives a peace sign and is wearing a t-shirt that reads "SERVE LOCAL."

Our most-read stories of 2020

From COVID-19 to wildfire smoke: counting down our top stories from Health & Safety Matters, the DEOHS blog

Worker approaches a blazing wildfire in a forest.

The health effects of wildfire smoke

DEOHS wildfire experts are investigating how smoke affects our health and strategies to reduce its impacts

Three people in hard hats work on a hillside with a small fire burning, one spraying water from a hose.

Living with fire

DEOHS and The Nature Conservancy bring health into future West Coast forest management

In the news

What wildfire smoke means for your health

January 9, 2025 | Washington Post | Featured: Joel D. Kaufman View

Exposure to wildfire smoke is linked with higher risk of dementia, UW study shows

January 3, 2025 | Oregon Public Broadcasting | Featured: Joan Casey View

Study links wildfire smoke and dementia risk. What does it mean for the North?

December 19, 2024 | Yukon News | Featured: Joan Casey View

Breathing wildfire smoke may greatly increase the risk of dementia

December 11, 2024 | Consumer Affairs | Featured: Joan Casey View

Wildfire smoke exposure and dementia risk

December 10, 2024 | National Institutes of Health | Featured: Joan Casey View