Wildfire smoke, vehicle exhaust, and other emissions, go through chemical changes when they enter the atmosphere. And, those changes may affect what kind of treatment patients need to combat exposure to such pollutants, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
“We found that after emissions entered the atmosphere, there were changes in chemical composition that affected how they expressed their toxicity,” said Rawad Saleh, assistant professor in the College of Engineering. “The toxicity mechanisms are different if you’re exposed to smoke directly from a fire, versus after it spends time in the atmosphere.”
“Historically, people used to think that emissions from forest fires or burning wood are not as toxic as burning fossil fuels, but they have similar levels of toxicity,” he said. “Ten to 20 years from now, most of the things we breathe that are harmful will probably come from a forest fire somewhere in the world.”
The team’s results indicate that the type of exposure—fresh smoke versus aged smoke, for example—affects cells in different ways. Fresh smoke is worse at causing damage to mitochondria, which process food and produce energy at the cellular level. Aged smoke causes more oxidative stress, which can lead to cell death. Though damage from emissions exposure may be caused in different ways, on the surface it can appear to be the same.
Co-authors include Khairallah Atwi, a former UGA graduate student now working in the private sector, as well as Sarah N. Wilson, Arnab Mondal, R. Clayton Edenfield, Krista M. Symosko Crow, Omar El Hajj, Charles Perrie, Chase K. Glenn, Charles A. Easley IV and Hitesh Handa, all at UGA.