Stowell et al.: Health Effects Associated with Smoke-specific PM2.5 Exposure.

In this publication, we pioneer methods for separating smoke PM2.5 from ambient PM2.5 concentrations. We used case-crossover methods to look at the potential health effects from smoke PM2.5 exposure. Our approach differs from previous literature in that we isolate the PM2.5 from smoke alone. Historically, this has mostly been done using total PM2.5 concentrations with a fire indicator variable. Our results suggest that there could be a difference in toxicological effect from smoke PM2.5 exposure compared with ambient PM. Hence, while following similar trends seen in other publications, we obtained greater health effects for smoke PM2.5 concentrations. This work can be built upon to help understand the burden of smoke exposure in the context of climate change.

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