Environmental Particulate Matter Levels during 2017 Large Forest Fires and Megafires in the Center Region of Portugal: A Public Health Concern?

Marta Oliveira, Cristina Delerue-Matos, Maria Carmo Pereira and Simone Morais
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Marta Oliveira: REQUIMTE/LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Instituto Politécnico do Porto, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal
Cristina Delerue-Matos: REQUIMTE/LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Instituto Politécnico do Porto, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal
Maria Carmo Pereira: LEPABE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Simone Morais: REQUIMTE/LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Instituto Politécnico do Porto, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: This work characterizes the dimension and the exceptionality of 2017 large- and mega-fires that occurred in the center region of Portugal through the assessment of their impact on the ambient levels of particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ), retrieved from local monitoring stations, and the associated public health risks. PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations were increased during the occurrence of large fires and megafires, with daily concentrations exceeding the European/national guidelines in 7–14 and 1–12 days of 2017 (up to 704 µg/m 3 for PM 10 and 46 µg/m 3 for PM 2.5 ), respectively. PM 10 concentrations were correlated with total burned area (0.500 < r < 0.949; p > 0.05) and with monthly total burned area/distance 2 (0.500 < r < 0.667; p > 0.05). The forest fires of 2017 took the life of 112 citizens. A total of 474 cases of hospital admissions due to cardiovascular diseases and 3524 cases of asthma incidence symptoms per 100,000 individuals at risk were assessed due to exposure to 2017 forest fires. Real-time and in situ PM methodologies should be combined with protection action plans to reduce public health risks. Portuguese rural stations should monitor other health-relevant pollutants (e.g., carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds) released from wildfires to allow performing more robust and comprehensive measurements that will allow a better assessment of the potential health risks for the exposed populations.

Keywords: forest fires; air pollution; particulate matter (PM); public health risks; WHO AirQ+ model; socio-economic impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:1032-:d:317347

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