Our Children’s Lungs Are Uniquely Vulnerable to All This Wildfire Smoke

When smoke from Canadian wildfires was descending upon parts of the Midwest and Eastern United States in early June, children and parents gathered in the courtyard of Burns Park Elementary in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a picnic celebrating the last week of school.

Shannon Hautamaki was loath to cancel end-of-school activities for her 5-year-old son, Ian. But Ian has severe asthma and had been to the emergency room five times over the last two years, and she anticipated a flare-up from the smoke. So after he attended the picnic, she did not let Ian leave the house; she supplemented his regular medications with nebulizer treatments and ran air purifiers full blast until the skies cleared.

As physicians who specialize in respiratory health and children, our first thought last week as wildfire smoke again engulfed parts of the United States was of little ones Ian’s age and younger because their developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to smoke inhalation. And we worried most about the millions of children in this country with asthma who may not have access to the prescription medications they need or to a clean indoor space to breathe. This new recurring threat of terrible air quality from wildfire smoke is one big reason we believe that for a child born today, climate change may be the single greatest determinant of health over the course of their lives.

There are, of course, other pressing public health problems affecting children, including gun violence, opioid addiction and obesity. But the health effects of fossil fuel pollution and climate change are inescapable and cumulative, jeopardizing our children’s development while increasing health inequities. The latest example of what they are up against is the large and profuse wildfires, fueled by extreme heat and drought that are growing worse as the planet warms, spewing huge columns of soot, tiny particles and other toxic material into the air.

Smoke from wildfires carries health risks far beyond your typical campfire. One study estimated wildfire smoke to be 10 times as harmful to children’s respiratory health as the regular pollution we breathe from everyday sources such as exhaust from vehicles. In recent weeks, when smoke smothered New York City, emergency room visits for asthma soared; Black and Latino children, who tend to be exposed to more baseline pollution, were disproportionately affected.