SINIF, Spain
University of Alicante, Spain
Abstract
Wildland fires are a source of
polluting emissions into the atmosphere whose main origin is
anthropogenic, as is amply demonstrated by causality studies and
statistics. Air pollution by such disturbance is due to combustion of
forest biomass that mainly generates CO2 and H2O, and other inorganic
and organic gases, and particles. During fires, and by the action of
fire, the ordinary characteristics of both the fuel and the oxidizer are
modified, being able to change state and suffering different reactions
at the molecular level. The composition and molecular structure of the
combustion gases, the concentration or dose received and the exposure
time act as modulators of the possible effects on the health of the
exposed persons. The harmful substances of a forest fire penetrate the
body, mainly through the respiratory tract and the skin. According to
recent research, in Spain it is estimated that there are about 17% of
the population living less than 5 km from a source that emits
carcinogenic substances. There are areas of the country which has been
detected excess mortality from leukemia and certain cancers, such as
those related to the digestive, respiratory, prostate, breast, ovarian
and gallbladder. These findings have been related to cities or
municipalities with high industrial activity. There seems to be little
doubt about the association of the effects of industrial pollution and
the development of certain types of cancer. In our study, we evaluated
the relationship between the areas of Spain with the most industrial
pollution and the areas with the highest prevalence of wildland fires,
in order to determine if forest fires may be contributing: First, to an
impoverishment of the quality of the air we breathe; second, an increase
in vulnerability and a greater risk to the health of people.
citation: Senabre, J. (2018). The air pollution caused by wildland fires and the effects on health. In Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology, 2018, Volume 8, pp22. DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525-C1-011
Link Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology (ISSN: 2161-0525) https://www.omicsonline.org/proceedings/the-air-pollution-caused-by-wildland-fires-and-the-effects-on-health-89952.html
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