| Abstract | This report discusses the health impact of wildfires smoke on communities situated at the interface between wildland and urban areas, and the use of available air treatment technologies to mitigate this hazard. Wildfire smoke concerns are increasing with the increase of wildfires events frequency, which is partially attributed to climate change. Emissions from wildfires are chemically and physically complex and represent a high health hazard. Most of the health hazards from smoke are caused by the microscopic particles that can trigger heart attacks, breathing problems and other health issues.
In response to wildfires events, communities are either asked to evacuate or seek a shelter-in-place. In order to protect the occupants from the smoke, high Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) should be provided within the shelter. The most commonly used technologies, for air treatment to improve the IAQ, are portable air cleaners and in-duct air filters. However, limited research is conducted to assess the efficiency of these technologies against wildfire smoke. Thus, this report suggests the development of a standard test for assessing air filters against wildfires smoke. Further, the report highly recommends developing guidelines for best practice at homes or community shelters to protect residents from wildfires induced smoke.
The report is structured as follow, first types of shelter-in-place as alternative to population evacuation are presented followed by the discussion of the frequency of wildfires in Canada. Next a detailed discussion of emissions from these fires presented followed by discussing health effects of the exposure to wildfires smoke. Subsequently, current technologies for air treatment are discussed. Finally, international and provincial regulations and guidelines for reducing health risk of wildfires smoke are reported. |
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