The health effects of wildfire smoke

Worker approaches a blazing wildfire in a forest.

DEOHS wildfire experts are investigating how smoke affects our health and strategies to reduce its impacts

 

DEOHS wildfire smoke experts were featured in a recent webinar hosted by the UW School of Public Health

Wildfires are natural and inevitable in our forestlands. Climate change is making our wildfire seasons longer, hotter and more dangerous.

The UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) has a long history of leading research into the impacts of wildfires on human health.

Through our research and outreach activities, DEOHS faculty and students are building our understanding of how wildfire smoke can damage our health and the best ways to protect people and communities from harm.

Learn about our impact, research and expertise below.

Our impact

Martindale stands on a misty beach in front of large driftwood tree trunks, with sea stacks in the background. She is wearing glasses, a blue baseball cap, an orange scarf and a grey jacket.

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DEOHS Outstanding Master’s Student Cecilia Martindale is committed to protecting our health from climate change impacts

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Houses in the foreground with smoke on a hillside rising into the air, with the LA skyline and mountains in the background.

How cuts to climate research could impact community health

Understanding climate change’s impact on health is critical to keeping communities safe, says DEOHS faculty member Joan Casey

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A bronze sculpture on the UW campus of a human figure seated with hands on knees, eyes closed  and a large flat circle on forehead. The sculpture is covered in light snow, with buildings, bare deciduous trees and an evergreen in the background..

Four new faculty members join DEOHS in 2024-2025

New assistant professors tackle emerging environmental conditions influencing dementia, birth outcomes, fertility and vector-borne disease

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DEOHS welcomes interim department chair, continues frontline health and safety work

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A woman holds a small blood collection device against her upper arm.

Sparking biochemical insights into wildfire smoke exposure

Spurred on by EDGE Center grant, UW Professor Ashleigh Theberge's home blood-sampling system examines impacts of wildfire smoke 

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In the news

DOGE withdraws remaining $866 of UW researcher’s grant, reflecting contradictory mission of the EPA
May 28, 2025 | The Daily | Featured: Elena Austin View

Hurricanes, fires, floods: A rising threat to cancer care
May 20, 2025 | Medscape | Featured: Joan Casey View

In California, flawed air rules threaten farmworkers as wildfires pump more smoke onto fields
May 19, 2025 | Inside Climate News | Featured: Edward Kasner View

DOGE canceled this UW scientist’s grant — to save just $866
May 10, 2025 | The Seattle Times | Featured: Elena Austin View

Exclusive: documents reveal how NIH will axe climate studies
May 8, 2025 | Nature | Featured: Kristie L. Ebi View