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The first study of its kind found higher levels of lung cancer and brain tumors in people exposed to forest fires in Canada, including BC
Buildings in Leeton, British Columbia, Friday, March 18, 2022. Almost the entire city was destroyed by a wildfire that spread until June 30, 2021. Photo: Jason Payne / PNG
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Living in areas prone to forest fires may increase the risk of developing lung cancer and brain tumors, a new study from McGill University found.
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The first study of its kind – which uses the health data of two million people in 20 years – found higher levels of lung cancer and brain tumors in people exposed to wildfires in Canada, including British Columbia.
A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health shows that people living within 50 kilometers of forest fires in the last 10 years had a 10% higher incidence of brain tumors and a 4.9% higher incidence of cancer. of the lungs compared to people living further away. .
Scott Weichental, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University, said that forest fires usually occur in the same places every year, which means long-term exposure.
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“We also know that forest fires release many chemicals that are known human carcinogens.”
The authors note that the study is important because forecasts show that there will be more fire activity in the future, fueled by climate change.
This is evidenced in British Columbia with three of the most extreme fire seasons in the last five years.
During the 2021 fire season, more than 520 buildings were burned, mostly people’s homes, and 32,000 people had to be evacuated. Two people died in a wildfire that destroyed the village of Lytton in inland British Columbia. In 2017, another season of extreme forest fires, 65,000 people had to evacuate their homes.
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An investigative series published by Postmedia last week, which explores what is needed to prepare for forecasting more extreme forest fires and floods, found that the cost of forest fires is significantly underestimated because the tables do not include health damage. and the environment.
Thick smoke fills the air and almost blocks the sun, as a property destroyed by a wildfire on White Rock Lake is visible in Lake Monte, east of Kamloops, British Columbia, on Saturday, August 14, 2021. Photo: DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Forest fires are increasingly recognized as a global health problem, researchers say.
“Many of the pollutants released by forest fires are known human carcinogens, suggesting that exposure may increase the risk of cancer in humans,” said Jill Corsiac, a doctoral student at Weichenthal’s laboratory who led the analysis.
In addition to the impact on air quality, forest fires also pollute the water, soil and indoor environment. While some pollutants return to normal concentrations shortly after the fire has stopped burning, other chemicals can persist in the environment for long periods of time, including heavy metals and hydrocarbons.
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“Exposure to harmful pollutants can continue after a period of active combustion in several ways of exposure,” said Weichenthal.
The study could have implications for governments’ efforts to reduce emissions from forest fires and for people’s efforts to limit exposure, for example by using indoor air filters, Weichental said.
Due to the limitations of the first study of its kind, the researchers said that further work was needed to refine the data used to assess the chronic health effects of forest fires, replicate the study in different geographical locations and populations, and further study the effects. from forest fires pollutants in soil, water and house dust.
ghoekstra@postmedia.com
twitter.com/gordon_hoekstra
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