Martine Dennekamp and Michael Abramson

Respirology

Published date January 27, 2011

The effects of bushfire smoke on respiratory

  • States bushfire smoke has the potential to affect millions of people and is therefore a major public health problem
  • States that, during bushfire smoke episodes, PM concentrations are usually much higher than urban background concentrations, at which effects on respiratory health have been observed
  • States only a few studies have distinguished between the effects of bushfire PM10 (particles with a median aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm) and background PM10, and that these studies suggest that PM10 from bushfire smoke is at least as toxic as urban PM10