Studies already have revealed a myriad of alarming connections between wildfire smoke and adverse health effects, from cardiovascular disease to dementia. Now, scientists have unveiled another surprising association.
A new study, out Thursday in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, finds that wildfire smoke is linked to an increase in violent assaults — at least in one city. The research uses Seattle as a case study, a place that enjoys relatively clean air quality for most of the year, but that sees occasional spikes in smoke exposure when wildfires ignite across the West.
The study’s author, Ph.D. student Lion Kircheis of the University of Kostanz in Germany, said he was inspired by his own experiences with wildfire smoke while spending his summers vacationing in Italy.
“There’s some wildfires and it’s very unpleasant,” he said. “ I thought I’d look into that, and research more about wildfires and all the neurological mechanisms that we have in the body when we breathe it in. Then I found even more fascinating stuff along the way.”
