Grant: Project Grant

The 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons were the worst in the history of British Columbia (BC). In both seasons, more than 1.2 million hectares of land were burned, and approximately 200 million tons of wildfire smoke were emitted. Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations were elevated throughout the province for several weeks. A small number of studies conducted in other regions suggest that such extreme smoke-related PM2.5 exposures may affect unborn and newborn infants, but no studies have been conducted in Canada. This project will take advantage of the extreme 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons and the milder 2016 and 2019 wildfire seasons to investigate how wildfire smoke exposure affects birth outcomes and risk of diseases in the first year of life. Specifically, all BC infants who were in the womb or born during the summers of 2016-2019 (approximately 200,000 in total) will be grouped into those with low, moderate, or high wildfire smoke exposure using an existing PM2.5 model. Birth outcomes and adverse health outcomes in the first year of life will then be compared across the three groups using administrative databases. The birth outcomes will include stillbirths, birth defects, preterm births, term low birth weight, small for gestational age, and full-term birth weight. The adverse health outcomes will include non-accidental deaths, respiratory diseases, congenital heart defects not identified at birth, ear infections, and antibiotic prescriptions. Based on previous literature we hypothesize that infants who were more exposed to wildfire smoke will have worse birth outcomes and higher risks of adverse health outcomes in the first year of life when compared with infants who were less exposed. This project will provide important new knowledge to better understand the health impacts of wildfire smoke for pregnant women and newborn infants and will inform public health and medical practitioners to better prepare for future wildfire events.