Exposure to wildfire smoke can affect the human immune system, according to a new study that adds to mounting evidence of the potential health risks posed by increasingly larger and prolonged blazes.
The study, published Thursday in the journal Nature Medicine, is billed as the first to examine the specific cellular changes stemming from smoke inhalation.
In looking at two roughly equal groups of people, researchers at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that those exposed to wildfire smoke registered an increase in a type of immune cells tied to long-term protection against disease-causing pathogens. They also showed changes in 133 genes related to allergies and asthma, according to a news release summarizing the results.
“Our findings demonstrate that the immune system is extremely sensitive to environmental exposures like fire smoke, even in healthy individuals,” said Mary Johnson, principal research scientist in the school’s Department of Environmental Health and the study’s lead author, in the release.
