发表机构
Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University; Program in Public Health, Stony Brook University; Department of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai（哥伦比亚大学麦尔曼公共卫生学院生物统计学系; 石溪大学海洋与大气科学学院; 石溪大学公共卫生项目; 西奈山伊坎医学院环境医学系）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
本研究利用美国三州火灾数据与因果森林方法，量化比较规定火烧与野火对空气质量的影响，发现规定火烧每平方公里人群烟雾暴露低六倍以上，并识别出湿度与降水为关键影响因素，为风险效益评估提供依据。
AI 中文摘要
美国日益频繁的野火活动对空气污染和人类健康产生了深远影响。虽然规定火烧被用作降低野火风险的预防性策略，但其烟雾对健康的影响仍不确定。小规模案例研究表明，规定火烧通常比失控的野火产生更低的污染物排放，可能有利于空气质量。然而，由于缺乏稳健的大规模定量证据，这在多大程度上能转化为减少的人群层面烟雾暴露仍不确定。此外，驱动规定火烧与野火空气质量影响差异的因素尚未得到充分探索。利用加利福尼亚州、佛罗里达州和佐治亚州（2006-2020年）的火灾数据以及因果森林方法，我们量化并比较了规定火烧和野火对空气质量的影响，评估了它们在人群层面烟雾暴露方面的差异，并识别了影响其烟雾暴露水平的关键因素。按每平方公里计算，规定火烧导致的人群层面烟雾暴露比野火少六倍以上。此外，在相对湿度和降水较高的地区，规定火烧与较低的烟雾暴露相关。这项工作能够促进广泛的风险-效益评估，以指导规定火烧的审慎使用，并在减轻野火威胁的同时优化公共卫生结果。
英文摘要
Increasing wildfire activities in the United States have generated far-reaching effects on air pollution and human health. While prescribed fires are used as a preventive strategy to reduce wildfire risks, the health impacts of their smoke remain uncertain. Small-scale case studies indicate that prescribed fires generally produce lower pollutant emissions than uncontrolled wildfires, potentially benefiting air quality. However, the extent to which this translates into reduced population-level smoke exposure remains uncertain due to a lack of robust, large-scale quantitative evidence. Moreover, the factors driving differences in air quality impacts between prescribed fires and wildfires were underexplored. Using fire data in California, Florida, and Georgia (2006-2020) and a causal forest approach, we quantified and compared the impacts of prescribed fires and wildfires on air quality, assessed their differences in population-level smoke exposure, and identified key factors influencing their smoke exposure levels. On a per square-kilometer basis, prescribed fires resulted in over six times less population-level smoke exposure compared to wildfires. Additionally, prescribed fires were associated with lower smoke exposure in regions with higher relative humidity and precipitation. This work could enable the broad risk-benefit assessment to guide the judicious use of prescribed fires and optimize public health outcomes while mitigating wildfire threats.
