The health effects of wildfire smoke

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

Portrait of Alexa Yadama with trees in the background

Finding beauty in the details

This scholar and ultimate frisbee star is using science to protect people’s health

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A woman in a bike helmet looks out over a lake toward wildfire smoke in the distance

The odds of death from wildfire smoke

New UW study finds increase in risk of dying in the days after exposure to wildfire smoke

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Building debris scattered across a neighborhood after Hurricane Dorian

On the ground in disaster's wake

DEOHS researcher Nicole Errett says disasters offer lessons on how to prepare, respond and recover from future extreme events—if you move fast

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Three people stand in a gym near a whiteboard on a wall decorated with Native American art.

Making breathing room

Clean air shelters offer refuge from wildfire smoke. DEOHS is helping one NW tribe identify the best place to create one

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A group of students and faculty pose for a photo.

Award-winning students

DEOHS students recognized for their research at the National Environmental Health Association conference

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Woman smiling at camera.

Measuring the toll of wildfires

UW student-athlete goes deep inside communities affected by wildfire smoke to understand the health risks

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In the news

The flames from wildfires aren’t always the most dangerous part
January 10, 2025 | Salon | Featured: Joan Casey View

Wildfire smoke: What are the health risks?
January 9, 2025 | Reuters | Featured: Joan Casey View

What wildfire smoke means for your health
January 9, 2025 | Washington Post | Featured: Joel D. Kaufman View

Wildfire smoke increases dementia risk, study finds
January 9, 2025 | Axios | Featured: Joan Casey 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