New research has linked moderate levels of wildfire smoke in the air to changes in people’s mental health.
The study, published in the journal, Respiratory Research, suggests that wildfire smoke does more than irritate your lungs — it can also affect your mood and mental well‑being.
The study consisted of 747 participants in Albuquerque, NM. Each was asked to complete a mental health status questionnaire over a period of 60 days after exposure to wildfire smoke.
Shuguang Leng, MBBS, PhD is an epidemiologist, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico and co-author of the study. He said even exposures of a few days can lead to temporary bouts of depression.
“It’s quite surprising to actually see, despite our smoke, especially this acute exposure, is associated with the changing of some mental health,” he said.
Dr. Leng anticipated the lung-related effects but was quite surprised to see measurable changes in mental health outcomes as well.
Mental health responds on a different time scale than physical health said Dr. Leng.
This suggests mental health impacts are more immediate and short-lived (at least in this dataset), compared to the more delayed and cumulative effects on physical health.
Dr. Leng referenced a separate study using animal models and found similar results.
Smoke exposure levels can be “modest” but still matter, Leng said.
This field of study is emerging, and acute mental health effects are nder-studied, Leng said.There are some studies linking chronic air pollution or wildfire smoke to cognitive impairment and dementia-like outcomes. But “for acute impact, there are very minimal findings so far.
Leng continues his research looking for cohorts with both smoke exposure data and stored blood samples so they can identify biomarkers in blood that may be triggered by wildfire smoke.
Officials have issued early warnings ahead of what could be an active wildfire season this spring and summer.
Leng encourages people in the path of wildfire smoke to heed any warnings to wear masks or stay indoors. He suggested the web site airnow.com for people following wildfire smoke alerts in their communities.
