When uncontrolled wildfires moved from the foothills above Los Angeles into the densely populated urban areas below in January 2025, evacuation ensued and a thick layer of toxic smoke spread across the region. Air quality plummeted. Local hospitals braced for a surge,.听听

Research led by the 天美影视传媒 and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the Los Angeles fires affected people鈥檚 health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency. In the rapid study, published , researchers analyzed the health records of 3.7 million Kaiser Permanente members of all ages living in the region. They found that health care visits did rise above normal levels, especially virtual services.听听

In the week after the fires ignited, Kaiser Permanente members made 42% more virtual visits for respiratory symptoms than expected. Those living near a burn zone or within Los Angeles County also made 44% and 40% more virtual cardiovascular visits, respectively, than expected.听

In-person outpatient visits for respiratory symptoms also increased substantially. Members who lived near a burn zone or within Los Angeles County made 27% and 31% more virtual cardiovascular visits, respectively, than expected.听

Extrapolating to all insured residents of the county, the researchers estimated an excess of 15,792 cardiovascular virtual visits, 18,489 respiratory virtual visits and 27,903 respiratory outpatient visits in the first week of the fires.听

The results suggest that people may rely more heavily on virtual health care during climate-related emergencies, and that providers should better prioritize virtual and telehealth services as they prepare for future crises.听

鈥淲e saw over 6,241 excess cardiorespiratory virtual visits in the week following the fire ignition. This represents a substantial increase in care,鈥� said, a UW associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of epidemiology who led the research. 鈥淲hile the fires clearly impacted health, virtual care likely enhanced the ability of providers to meet the health care needs of people experiencing an ongoing climate disaster.鈥澨�

In collaboration with Kaiser Permanente Southern California, an integrated health care system with millions of members across the region, researchers analyzed health records of people who were highly or moderately exposed to wildfires. They defined high exposure as living within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of a burn zone, and moderate exposure as living within Los Angeles County but farther than 12 miles during the time of the fires.听听

Researchers looked back three years to estimate how many health care visits to expect in the weeks following Jan. 7 鈥� the first day of the fires 鈥� under typical conditions. They then estimated how many people sought care in the first week of the fires, when smoke levels were highest, evacuations took place, and Los Angeles County public schools were closed.

In addition to the spike in cardiovascular and respiratory visits, researchers found a sharp increase in the number of visits for injuries and neuropsychiatric symptoms. On Jan. 7, outpatient injury visits were 18% higher than expected among highly exposed members, and virtual injury visits were 26% and 18% higher than expected among highly and moderately exposed groups, respectively. Among those same groups, outpatient neuropsychiatric visits rose 31% and 28% above expectations, respectively.

While both groups made significantly more visits than expected, proximity to the fires mattered. When researchers zoomed in on respiratory-related virtual visits, they found that minimally exposed members made 31% more visits, moderately exposed members made 36% more, and those living in highly exposed areas made 42% more.听听

鈥淲hile healthcare systems often plan to increase the number of hospital beds available or clinic staffing during an emergency, this work highlights the importance of considering virtual care capacity,鈥� said, a UW doctoral student of epidemiology and co-author on the study. 鈥淭his may be particularly true for climate disasters like wildfires, during which people are advised to stay indoors or when people must evacuate 鈥� motivating them to seek care online if at all possible. As climate disasters increase in frequency and intensity, it is essential that health care systems know how to prepare for a sudden and dramatic surge in health care utilization.鈥澨�

Other authors on this study are , and of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; of the University of California, Berkeley; of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; and of Columbia University; and of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego; and of the Scripps Institution and the University of Rennes in France.

This research was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.听

For more information or to reach the research team, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

About . Birth before 37 weeks can lead to a cascade of health risks, both immediate and long-term, making prevention a vital tool for improving public health over generations.听

In recent years, researchers have identified a potential link between wildfire smoke 鈥� one of the fastest-growing sources of air pollution in the United States 鈥� and preterm birth, but no study has been big or broad enough to draw definitive conclusions. A new study led by the 天美影视传媒 makes an important contribution, analyzing data from more than 20,000 births to find that pregnant people who are exposed to wildfire smoke are more likely to give birth prematurely.

鈥淧reventing preterm birth really pays off with lasting benefits for future health,鈥� said lead author , a UW postdoctoral researcher in environmental and occupational health sciences. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also something of a mystery. We don鈥檛 always understand why babies are born preterm, but we know that air pollution contributes to preterm births, and it makes sense that wildfire smoke would as well. This study underscores that wildfire smoke is inseparable from maternal and infant health.鈥�

In the study, ,听researchers used data from the , a federal research project focused on how a wide range of environmental factors affect children鈥檚 health. The sample included 20,034 births from 2006-2020 across the contiguous United States.

Researchers estimated participants鈥� average daily exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, generated by wildfire smoke, and the total number of days they were exposed to any amount of smoke. They estimated the intensity of smoke exposure by how frequently participants were exposed to wildfire PM2.5 levels above certain thresholds.

They found that pregnant people exposed to more intense wildfire smoke were more likely to give birth prematurely. In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

鈥淭he second trimester is a period of pregnancy with the richest and most intense growth of the placenta, which itself is such an important part of fetal health, growth and development,鈥� said co-author , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine. 鈥淪o it may be that the wildfire smoke particles are really interfering with placental health. Some of them are so tiny that after inhalation they can actually get into the bloodstream and get delivered directly into the placenta or fetus.鈥澨�

The link was strongest and most precise in the Western U.S., where people were exposed to the highest concentrations of wildfire PM2.5 and the greatest number of high-intensity smoke days. Here, the odds of preterm birth increased with each additional microgram per cubic meter of average wildfire PM2.5.

It鈥檚 possible those results were more precise simply because the West experiences more wildfire smoke on average, making the exposure model perform better, Sherris said. But there may be other factors behind the regional differences.听

The composition of wildfire smoke is different across the country. In the West, smoke tends to come from fires nearby, while in places like the Midwest, smoke has typically drifted in from faraway fires. and reacts with sunlight and airborne chemicals, which could have affected the results. Researchers also noted that external factors like co-occurring heat or housing quality may have effects that aren鈥檛 fully understood.听

Researchers hope that future studies will examine the exact mechanisms by which wildfire smoke might trigger preterm birth. But in the meantime, Sherris said, evidence for a link is now strong enough to take action.听

鈥淭here are a couple avenues for change,鈥� Sherris said. 鈥淔irst, people already get a lot of public health messaging and information throughout pregnancy, so there鈥檚 an opportunity to work with clinicians to provide tools for pregnant people to protect themselves during smoke events. Public health agencies鈥� messaging about wildfire smoke could also be tailored to pregnant people and highlight them as a vulnerable group.鈥�

Co-authors include , doctoral student of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; , clinical associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; , professor of biostatistics at the UW; , associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of epidemiology at the UW; , postdoctoral fellow of epidemiology at the UW; and , assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW. A full list of co-authors is included with the paper.

This research was funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program at the National Institutes of Health under multiple awards. A full list of ECHO funding awards is included with the paper.听

For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

A statewide initiative to put more healthy, climate-friendly grains on people鈥檚 plates has received a $19 million boost, which will sustain every step in building a network from the field to the fork.

The initiative, a public-private partnership led by Washington State University with support from the 天美影视传媒, received a $10 million BioInnovation Grant from the and matching funds from several other organizations, including more than $3 million from the Washington Grain Commission.

It targets a global health problem: the lack of whole grains in people鈥檚 diets, which contributes to widespread health problems.

The funding will allow WSU researchers to continue developing new crop varieties for farmers. It will fuel efforts to bring more whole grains to the public, including into school lunchrooms and will expand Washington state鈥檚 commercial infrastructure for storing, transporting, milling and marketing whole grains. The funding will also support the establishment of a commercial kitchen at the UW to help entrepreneurs bring whole-grain foods to market.

鈥淭his work is about making sure that nutritious grains reach the people who need them,鈥� said , a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW. 鈥淏y understanding the policies, systems, and human decisions that shape food production and the supply chain for school meals, we can help bridge the gap between innovation and impact.鈥�

Two teams of UW researchers will contribute to this effort.听

, professor of industrial & systems engineering and of mechanical engineering at the UW, will help lead development of ready-to-eat meals and will support private organizations using UW facilities to produce sample meals for school breakfast and lunch.听

The UW鈥檚 implementation science team, which includes Otten, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences , and assistant professor of epidemiology , will examine how innovations in grain breeding and food product development can be successfully adopted in school settings. They will study what policy, budgetary, and social factors help ensure that new whole grain and legume varieties are embraced across the supply chain and, ultimately, by school-aged children who rely on them for the nutrition they need to grow and thrive.

This team will also lead study-away programs, where students can learn about new whole grains and legumes in both urban and rural areas of Washington state. Curriculum from these five-week summer programs will be made publicly available.听

鈥淭he timing of the grant is perfect,鈥� said , a WSU professor of international seed and cropping systems and director of the WSU Breadlab, who will lead the grant work. 鈥淲e鈥檙e right at the stage where we鈥檝e got a critical mass of cross-disciplinary research, encompassing a range of agricultural, food and health sciences. Now we can start commercializing, getting these crop varieties to farmers, getting whole grains on our plates and into schools.鈥�

The grant funding will be matched by contributions from the Washington Grain Commission, the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, the American Heart Association, The Land Institute, and food and technology companies.

鈥淭his is truly a historic investment for Washington farmers,鈥� said Casey Chumrau, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission.

Adapted from . For more information or to reach the project team, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu or WSU鈥檚 Shawn Vestal at shawn.vestal@wsu.edu.

Warmer weather across the globe is reshaping the landscape of human health. Case in point:听Dengue fever incidence could rise as much as 76% by 2050 due to climate warming across a large swath of Asia and the Americas, according to a new study led by , a researcher at the 天美影视传媒.听

Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease once confined largely to the tropics, often brings flu-like symptoms. Without proper medical care, it can escalate to severe bleeding, organ failure, and even death.鈥�

The study,, is the most comprehensive estimate yet of how temperature shifts affect dengue鈥檚 spread. It provides the first direct evidence that a warming climate has already increased the disease鈥檚 toll.听听

鈥淭he effects of temperature were much larger than I expected,鈥� said Childs, a UW assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences who conducted much of the research as a doctoral student at Stanford University. 鈥淓ven small shifts in temperature can have a big impact for dengue transmission, and we鈥檙e already seeing the fingerprint of climate warming.鈥澨�

The study analyzed over 1.4 million observations of local dengue incidence across 21 countries in Central and South America and Southeast and South Asia, capturing both epidemic spikes and background levels of infection.听听

Dengue thrives in a 鈥淕oldilocks zone鈥� of temperatures 鈥� incidence peaks at about 27.8 degrees Celsius, or 82 degrees Fahrenheit, rising sharply as cooler regions warm but dropping slightly when already-hot areas exceed the optimal range. As a result, some of the largest increases are projected for cooler, high-population regions in countries such as Mexico, Peru and Brazil. Many other endemic regions will continue to experience larger, warming-fueled dengue burdens. By contrast, a few of the hottest lowland areas may see slight declines.听听

Still, the net global effect is a steep rise in disease.听

The findings suggest that higher temperatures from climate change were responsible for an average 18% increase of dengue incidence across 21 countries in Asia and the Americas from 1995 to 2014 鈥� translating to more than 4.6 million extra infections annually, based on current incidence estimates. Cases could climb another 49% to 76% by 2050 depending on greenhouse gas emissions levels, according to the study. At the higher end of the projections, incidence of dengue would more than double in many cooler locations, including areas in the study countries that are already home to over 260 million people.听听

鈥淢any studies have linked temperature and dengue transmission,鈥� said senior author, a professor of biology in the. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 unique about this work is that we are able to separate warming from all the other factors that influence dengue 鈥� mobility, land use change, population dynamics 鈥� to estimate its effect on the real-world dengue burden. This is not just hypothetical future change but a large amount of human suffering that has already happened because of warming-driven dengue transmission.鈥澨�

The researchers cautioned that their estimates are likely conservative. They do not account for regions where dengue transmission is sporadic or poorly reported, nor do they include large endemic areas such as India or Africa where detailed data is lacking or not publicly available. The researchers also highlighted recent locally acquired cases in California, Texas, Hawaii, Florida, and in Europe 鈥� a signal of the expanding range of dengue. Urbanization, human migration and the evolution of the virus could amplify risks, while medical advances may help blunt them, making projections uncertain.听

Aggressive climate mitigation would significantly reduce the dengue disease burden, according to the study. At the same time, adaptation will be essential. This includes better mosquito control, stronger health systems and potential widespread use of new dengue vaccines.听

In the meantime, the findings could help guide public health planning and strengthen efforts to hold governments and fossil fuel companies accountable for climate change damages. Attribution studies are increasingly entering courtrooms and policy debates, used to assign responsibility for climate damages and to support funds compensating countries most affected.听听

鈥淐limate change is not just affecting the weather 鈥� it has cascading consequences for human health, including fueling disease transmission by mosquitoes,鈥� Mordecai said. 鈥淓ven as the U.S. federal government moves away from investing in climate mitigation and climate and health research, this work is more crucial than ever for anticipating and mitigating the human suffering caused by fossil fuel emissions.鈥澨�

Co-authors of the study include of Arizona State University, of the University of Maryland, and of Stanford. Lyberger and Harris completed much of their work while at Stanford.听听听

The research was funded by the Illich-Sadowsky Fellowship through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship program at Stanford University; an Environmental Fellowship at the Harvard University Center for the Environment; the National Institutes of Health; the National Science Foundation (with the Fogarty International Center); 迟丑别鈥� 迟丑别鈥� and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.听

Adapted from a. For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

Joth Davis adjusted his waders and stepped into the cool waters of Thorndyke Bay, his Crocs disappearing under a layer of thick, forest-green seaweed. Behind him, jagged Olympic peaks poked above the hilltops. Before him stretched 30 acres of oysters, clams and geoducks 鈥� the shellfish farm he鈥檇 run for 35 years. 听

A hundred feet from shore, Davis stooped over and reached a hand toward the muck, where a native cockle clam sat on the surface. 鈥淭his right here,鈥� he said, scooping up the clam, 鈥渢his is the problem.鈥澨�

Under ideal conditions, cockles bury themselves in sand or mud, resting in shallow waters. But the conditions at are not always ideal. Every summer, Davis and shellfish farmers across the Washington coastline contend with an abundance of , a native seaweed that flourishes in tidelands. Commonly called 鈥渟ea lettuce,鈥� Ulva grows thick and heavy. Left unmitigated, it can smother life underneath.听

Some shellfish, like the cockle in Davis鈥檚 hand, can force themselves through the sludge and onto the surface, where they鈥檙e more likely to survive. Others 鈥� including the oysters and geoducks that are the heart of Baywater鈥檚 business 鈥� can only suffer on the seabed.听听

鈥淭oo much seaweed grows in proliferation, and just piles up on top of the (shellfish). We definitely have seen mortalities among geoducks because of the Ulva,鈥� said Davis, who is also a trained marine biologist and affiliate professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences at the UW. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 getting worse.鈥�听

For years, Baywater has removed excess Ulva by hand. Teams of workers hunch over to scoop fistfuls of seaweed into oversized buckets. It鈥檚 an expensive, time-consuming, laborious process that creates yet another conundrum 鈥� what to do with hundreds of pounds of unwanted seaweed.听听

Researchers at the 天美影视传媒 saw an opportunity. Ulva is rich in carbon and other nutrients, which can cause problems when left in the sea. But those same nutrients are vital for land-based agriculture. What if shellfish farmers like Davis could turn all that extra seaweed into an organic soil amendment for vegetable farms?听听

鈥淚t seemed like a real no-brainer,鈥� said Sarah Collier, a UW assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and the project lead. 鈥淲hat has been a problem for shellfish farms could be a great opportunity for farms on land.鈥澨�

That insight led to , a multi-year collaboration between the UW, Baywater Shellfish, , Washington State University, and farm business incubator The project aimed to test the viability of Ulva as a soil amendment, and, if successful, develop a market for sea-based farmers to sell excess seaweed to their counterparts on land. Along the way, Collier鈥檚 team would study the supply chain鈥檚 agricultural, economic and climate impacts.听听

Project leaders hoped their findings would help to solve a problem faced not only in Washington, but also in coastal communities around the globe.听听

鈥淥ur farm is really a research platform,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this because it helps the farm, but it鈥檚 really the science that we want.鈥澨�听

In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the program nearly $5 million over five years. The project launched the following year, removing more than 17,000 pounds of seaweed from shellfish beds and applying it to crops on four local farms, who received financial support for their participation.听听

The project generated widespread excitement. Anecdotes from participating farms suggested an increased crop yield, and nearly 70 farms expressed interest in participating in the second year. The project team built a prototype raft-based system to accelerate seaweed removal. Early data suggested a significant economic benefit.听

Then the USDA pulled the plug. In April 2025, federal officials canceled a $3 billion initiative to fund climate-forward agricultural projects such as Blue Carbon, Green Fields.听听

鈥淲e had to immediately shut everything down,鈥� Collier said. Now the project is at a standstill: Farmers who had been eager to participate were unable to do so, and researchers haven鈥檛 been able to fully analyze the first year鈥檚 data. The raft-based harvester sits ready, but has no supply chain for the seaweed it collects.听

As the summer unfolds, project leaders have scrambled to maintain what they can, collecting essential data and storing seaweed samples for later analysis. Collier is searching for alternative funding and working with the USDA to potentially tweak the project to fit the Trump administration鈥檚 priorities.听听

For now, though, a solution to the seaweed problem remains just out of reach.听听

鈥淭he thing that’s really frustrating is that this is absolutely a win-win,鈥� Collier said. 鈥淚t makes sense. It solves a problem. It鈥檚 just something that makes sense from every perspective whether you’re thinking about the economics, the environmental impacts or听 building resilience and health in the system. It just makes sense from every possible angle.听

鈥淪o to have to stop doing this work is just so frustrating.鈥�听

is a third-year doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and a military spouse. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on global health and conservation.

earned a degree in Economics from the US Air Force Academy, and served nearly nine years on active duty, leading Pararescue teams on three deployments to the Middle East and Africa. He earned a master鈥檚 degree in Emergency and Disaster Management and is now in his final year at the 天美影视传媒 School of Medicine.

Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, the 42 new scholars join a community of changemakers dedicated to making a positive difference across fields such as medicine, law, education, public policy, technology and the arts.

In 2002, Pat Tillman put his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals on hold to serve his country. In 2004, his family and friends started the to carry forward that legacy. The foundation provides academic scholarships and support to elite military service members, veterans and spouses to help them reach their fullest potential as leaders 鈥� no matter how they choose to serve.

Learn more at the.

Every day, hundreds of workers across Washington state are hurt on the job. Some lose their lives. Many of the industries that shaped the state 鈥� forestry, fishing, agriculture 鈥� are riddled with risk.听听

The 天美影视传媒 has for years been instrumental in the state鈥檚 efforts to keep workers safe. UW experts study workplace hazards like the toxic fumes inhaled by nail salon workers and the worsening heat waves faced by agricultural workers east of the Cascades. The UW鈥檚 training and education programs, from undergraduate education to continuing education for industry professionals, prepare trainees to oversee health and safety programs for businesses across the state. UW experts consult with businesses on how to keep workers safe and productivity high. And a provides specialized care to injured workers.听

鈥淲orker health and safety is a vital component of what the 天美影视传媒 does,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences.听

But those efforts are now under threat. This year, the federal government has dramatically cut the programs that fund worker safety efforts like those at the UW. In April, the Trump administration of the (NIOSH), the federal agency dedicated to worker safety. The agency has closed nearly all its research and training programs, creating uncertainty over whether funding will continue. 听

NIOSH has long been a significant source of funding for UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety research and training programs, complementing core funding from the state. Without federal support, much of that work will stop in its tracks. That means less research into the hazards workers face, and fewer people who are trained to mitigate those risks and treat workplace injuries and illnesses.听

Ultimately, Baker fears workers across Washington will feel the impact.听

鈥淚 suspect that if the cuts to NIOSH are maintained and the work that we’re doing here at the 天美影视传媒 no longer continues, the number of workers who are injured or lose their lives in Washington is going to go up,鈥� Baker said.听听

Federal funds support the (NWCOHS), which prepares graduate students to work in occupational health and safety and provides continuing education to industry professionals. The NWCOHS addresses the need for specialists in occupational medicine by supporting training programs for physicians.听

Trainees work out of specialty clinics, including the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, which treats patients who are injured on the job. Physicians at the clinic learn how to connect workplace exposures to patients鈥� health outcomes and craft treatment plans to help workers recover and safely return to work.听

听鈥淚t’s a unique combination of medicine and public health. We鈥檙e thinking about individual patients who are sitting in front of us, and also how to prevent workplace injuries and illness for populations of workers鈥� said , research associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences and former director of the occupational & environmental medicine program at the UW. 鈥淭he goal is for workers and patients to be healthy and feel gratification from the work they’re doing, which often contributes to a healthy and productive workplace.鈥�听

The benefits aren鈥檛 theoretical 鈥� the UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety work has led directly to improved working conditions for some of the state鈥檚 most essential workers.听听

Consider forestry and agricultural workers, who experience higher rates of workplace injury and death on the job. For decades, the UW鈥檚 (PNASH) has received federal funding through a NIOSH program focused exclusively on agricultural workers鈥� health and safety. PNASH experts have built deep ties across the state, working in collaboration with community members and industry partners to build safer, stronger workplaces.听听

A few years ago, PNASH researchers learned that workers tasked with applying pesticides weren鈥檛 always properly wearing their protective equipment and faced frequent exposure to these hazardous chemicals. Researchers leaned into community and industry connections to better understand the barriers. Then they got to work on solutions.

PNASH developed practical training that allows pesticide applicators to see how the sprays drift through the air by using a fluorescent tracer that lights up on clothes or skin. They studied how workers typically apply pesticides and suggested new methods that ensured the chemicals hit their target and didn鈥檛 drift onto workers. And they built tools to translate the warning labels on pesticide containers, which were written almost entirely in English, into Spanish, the primary language of many farm workers.听

The developed in collaboration with farmers, educators and researchers across the state, is designed to benefit both workers and their employers.听

鈥淎 unique role that we have at the UW is being able to listen to those who don鈥檛 have the ability to individually contact their employer or to contact the state, and to really make their voice heard,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences whose research focuses on protecting agricultural workers. 鈥淎nd we work with a wide variety of partners to really engage those essential workers that are growing our food and fishing in dangerous waters and understand how we can return information to them that’s actionable, meaningful and practical.鈥�听

NIOSH funds make that work possible. But the White House has proposed eliminating all federal funding for agricultural worker health and safety, putting PNASH鈥檚 funding in jeopardy. Leaders are searching for alternate funding to support the center鈥檚 critical services.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e very concerned about this sudden change in federal focus and lack of resources being allocated to health and safety research,鈥� Austin said. 鈥淲e worry about our region in particular, that our workers are going to suffer and our businesses are going to have to bear the cost.鈥�听

Asthma affects more than 6% of U.S. children, making it the most common chronic disease in kids nationwide. It鈥檚 difficult to isolate any single cause, but one of the most common contributors is air pollution: Studies have shown that breathing air with high levels of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and other environmental pollutants can increase children鈥檚 risk of developing asthma. But it鈥檚 been unclear whether long-term, early childhood exposure to ozone, the pollutant that most frequently exceeds U.S. air quality standards, contributes to the disease.听听

, a doctoral student at the 天美影视传媒, set out to find a possible link. In a study , Dearborn and collaborators identified a puzzling trend: Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 鈥� but researchers didn鈥檛 observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.听听

While the researchers couldn鈥檛 pin down the exact reason, possible explanations include the changing nature of asthma as kids age, which could lead to a drop-off in formal diagnoses, and the influence of other risk factors and pollutants on asthma as children鈥檚 lungs grow.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a puzzling finding,鈥� said Dearborn, who led the research in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we spent a long time trying to consider, and I don鈥檛 know if we ever came up with a satisfying answer. But these findings are important. Even if we only see the effects early in life,听there are still all kinds of associated health care costs and stresses for families. There are all sorts of larger contextual factors about having this chronic disease at any point in life.鈥�听

This study relied on data from the (ECHO) program, a federal research project focused on how a wide range of environmental factors affect children鈥檚 health. Researchers drew 1,118 participants from six cities, including Seattle and Yakima, who had low-risk pregnancies and completed validated surveys that asked if their children had been diagnosed with asthma or had experienced wheezing.听听

Researchers estimated exposure in the first two years of a child鈥檚 life using a model developed by co-author , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, of epidemiology and of medicine. They found that a relatively small increase in ozone exposure 鈥� 2 parts per billion 鈥� in a child鈥檚 first two years of life was associated with a 31% increase in asthma and 30% increase in wheeze at age 4-6 years. Asthma and wheeze risk at ages 8-9 was not found to be associated with their early life ozone concentration.听

Researchers also analyzed how exposure to mixtures of three common air pollutants 鈥� ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 鈥� affected asthma outcomes. In this analysis, ozone stood out.听

鈥淲e interpret trends, and what we can conclude from this analysis is that when ozone within the air pollution mixture was higher than about 25 parts per billion, we saw a higher probability of asthma regardless of the concentration of nitrogen dioxide,鈥� Dearborn said. 鈥淲e found a relationship between ozone and asthma only when fine particulate matter was at or above median concentrations, giving novel evidence that the relationship between ozone and childhood asthma may depend on the concentration of other pollutants, like fine particulate matter.鈥�听

The study鈥檚 findings highlight the need for more research into the effects of long-term ozone exposure in early life, Dearborn said. Further study could determine why the increased asthma risk related to ozone is not evident at ages 8-9, and whether it increases again later in childhood.听听

In the meantime, Dearborn said, researchers and public health officials should pay more attention to the effects of long-term exposure to ozone.听

鈥淚n the United States, ozone regulations only consider a very short time period,鈥� Dearborn said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 regulate ozone over the long term, and that鈥檚 where this analysis fits in. Maybe we should be considering both a short- and a long-term threshold for the regulation of ozone.鈥澨�听

Other authors are , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine; postdoctoral researchers and , research scientist , and clinical associate professor , all of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; , a UW professor of biostatistics; , a graduate student in the UW Department of Epidemiology; of Seattle Children鈥檚 Research Institute and an assistant professor of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine; Margaret Adgent and Paul Moore of Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Yu Ni of San Diego State University; Marnie Hazlehurst and Drew Day of Seattle Children鈥檚 Research Institute; Ruby Nguyen of the University of Minnesota; Kaja LeWinn of the University of California, San Francisco; and Kecia Carroll of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.听听

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 ECHO-PATHWAYS program; the National Center for Advancing Translational Health Sciences; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; the UW Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars K-12 program; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the UW EDGE Center; the National Institute on Aging; and the Urban Child Institute.听

The vast majority of earthquakes strike inside the , a string of volcanoes and tectonic activity that wraps around the coastlines of the Pacific Ocean. But when an earthquake hits, the areas that experience the strongest shaking aren鈥檛 always the places that suffer the greatest damage.

Take the massive , which caused extensive damage in Taiwan in the fall of 1999 and killed more than 2,400 people. The distribution of damage followed an uneven pattern: Deaths caused by the earthquake were concentrated not in densely populated city centers, but in those cities鈥� suburbs and outer fringes. A similar pattern has occurred following earthquakes in China, Chile and Nepal.

More than two decades later, researchers at the 天美影视传媒 have identified a hidden factor behind what they call 鈥榮uburban syndrome鈥� 鈥� migration. Workers from small, rural communities often move into the outer edges of cities, which offer greater economic opportunities but often have low-quality housing that is likely to suffer greater damage during an earthquake. The risk grows even more when migrants come from low-income or tribal villages.

The findings, , suggest that emergency management organizations should pay greater attention to migration and housing quality when developing disaster mitigation and response plans.

UW News spoke with lead author , an assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences and of urban planning, to discuss 鈥榮uburban syndrome,鈥� how migration can amplify disparities in a disaster鈥檚 impact, and what U.S. officials can learn from a Taiwanese disaster.

Your work on this study builds on an existing model that assesses earthquake risk by considering migration patterns and the movement of vulnerable populations. What does the existing model miss, and why is it important to fill those gaps?听听

Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen: This risk-assessment model has been used by many organizations internationally and in the United States. For example, FEMA uses a similar risk model to assess populations exposed to hazards, vulnerabilities and potential disaster impacts. They typically do a comprehensive risk assessment geographically within states and counties, identify areas with potential larger impacts, and then draft a preparedness plan.

In United States, temporary domestic migrants and undocumented immigrants don鈥檛 always officially register in government systems. One common reason is the fear of deportation or other legal repercussions. And so, when a government agency like FEMA allocates resources for disaster preparedness or recovery, relying on registered population data can lead to an underestimate of the support required in certain areas.

In Taiwan, our study case, many migrant workers moving from rural to urban areas don鈥檛 update their registered residence. They still have their registration back in their hometown, like in a tribal area. It just doesn’t make sense to re-register, because they might have multiple jobs within a single year in different places. To minimize expenses, some workers look for the lowest possible rent, and their rental housing might not be officially registered either. Those could be informal housing structures, like a metal floor added on top of a concrete building, which don鈥檛 comply with safety regulations. The informality of this process can help lower their cost of living, but can also leave them more vulnerable to disasters.

How did you get started in this research?听

TKC: I鈥檒l share my personal story, but I also want to acknowledge my co-authors for their years of work in risk assessments. For me, it started back in 2010, when I volunteered in a tribal area of Taiwan teaching computer skills. This provided bigger lessons for me than anything I could鈥檝e taught them. I learned how teenagers often move from their tribal areas downhill to nearby cities to take construction jobs during the off-crop seasons. Those jobs pay more than farm work, but they鈥檙e also very physically demanding and often lack worker protections like job security and health insurance. Seeing that put a seed in my mind.听

When I was a master鈥檚 student, a team from the National Earthquake Center and Academia Sinica in Taiwan was working on a risk assessment of the Chi-Chi earthquake using the exposure, vulnerability and hazard framework. They had already published a fundamental , and reached out to me to develop an extended study by incorporating spatial statistics. That collaboration eventually evolved into the study in this paper.听

The COVID-19 pandemic also shaped this study. I came across news about how migrant workers were stuck in urban fringe areas of India. Because of the lockdown, they weren鈥檛 able to continue their work, and their crowded living conditions left them at even greater risk during the pandemic. I started to wonder: How can we shift from a pure statistical model to something more meaningful? How can we bring migration into the center of the discussion?听

The final push came from colleagues鈥� work at the UW. I鈥檝e noticed initiatives for undocumented students and research efforts around environmental justice and health equity. For example, my co-author 鈥檚 research on migrant worker鈥檚 health was particularly motivating. We read and wrote back and forth to refine the framing and discussion in this paper. 听

How did you incorporate migration data into a larger earthquake-risk model, and what did you find?

TKC: At the time of the Chi-Chi earthquake in the late 1990s, we didn鈥檛 have any detailed migration data. Today, new research uses mobile phone signals to track people, but such data wasn鈥檛 available back then. So we adapted the 鈥� a model widely used to predict human migration 鈥� to estimate migration flow and used it as a new way to estimate migrants from low-income and tribal areas. This provided new variables to incorporate into the large risk model.听

Most of our findings are supportive of previous studies, where we can see, logically, if there鈥檚 stronger ground movement, there are likely to be more fatalities. That鈥檚 a very straightforward way of thinking of how disasters can happen. However, it鈥檚 not just a physical story. We also confirm that in areas where incomes are lower, there are more fatalities. Income is a known risk factor in the vulnerability theory. What鈥檚 unique in this study is that we tested whether an increase in migration flows leads to an increase in fatalities, and we found that to be true.听

Tell me about the migration model. What is it estimating?听

TKC: We applied the radiation model and adapted it to measure different migration populations. The fundamental idea of the radiation model comes from a simple model called the . In this context, gravity refers to the idea that larger populations have a stronger 鈥減ull鈥� on people in nearby communities. The model assumes that, for a place, the number of people who want to migrate to nearby cities depends on the population size of those cities. Larger cities tend to attract more people.听听

If the distance is too far, then it costs too much to travel, so the model will predict fewer migrants. But if the city is closer, or even far away but has a very large population, it becomes a more attractive destination, leading to greater migration flow.听听

The radiation model builds on these principles and adds another layer. It considers competitors along the way. In other words, migration flow may also be influenced by other cities or opportunities that lie between the starting point and the destination.听

At first glance, it seems obvious that greater migration would lead to higher fatalities in a given area, just because there are more people present when disaster strikes. Is that the primary driver, or are there other factors at play?听听

TKC: Logically, if there are more people, and the percentage of fatalities is equal, then there should be more people dying from a specific event. But we found it鈥檚 not just about population numbers. There are two additional factors: When migrant workers are from areas with lower incomes, or when they are from tribal areas, those factors significantly contribute to higher fatalities in the places they migrate to.听

Our hypothesis is that it鈥檚 about housing safety. Migrant workers tend to move to cities, and when cities are more expensive, affluent workers might be able to secure housing that offers better protection against disasters. However, workers from tribal or low-income areas tend to settle in urban fringe zones where affordable housing options might not meet safety standards, making them more vulnerable to earthquakes.

Why did you choose to study this earthquake from 1999 in particular?听听

TKC: The research team that invited me to work on this project was interested in the Chi-Chi earthquake, partly because it was one of the most disastrous in Taiwan鈥檚 history. And even 20 years later, there鈥檚 still a conference focused on the Chi-Chi earthquake that brings domestic and international researchers to talk about it.

How widely applicable are your findings? Could they help us better understand hazards in other earthquake-prone areas of the world, like, say, the Pacific Northwest?听听

TKC: It鈥檚 important to consider this risk assessment as a tool for preparedness for future hazards. When the next earthquake occurs, migrant communities will likely face elevated impacts if housing safety policies do not improve.

I believe the migration component is universally important, even outside Taiwan. There has always been a paradox, a structural dilemma of disaster governance: Because migrants are often invisible, they suffer from little support. But making them visible can sometimes lead to exclusion and discrimination. This model represents migrants in a geographic sense rather than identifying every person individually through government surveillance, which could address this challenge. By protecting anonymity while still accounting for migrant populations, the model might help ensure their needs are considered in housing safety and resource allocation.

Co-authors on this study include Diana Ceballos of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin of National Taiwan Normal University, Thung-Hong Lin of Academia Sinica in Taiwan; and Gee-Yu Liu and Chin-Hsun Yeh of the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan.

For more information, contact Chen at kthchen@uw.edu.

An associated video has been removed from this post.

As Baby Boomers hit retirement, about is now over the age of 65. The number of Americans living with dementia is 鈥� but the proportion of older Americans who develop dementia has actually decreased. The exact reason why is uncertain, but various lifestyle and environmental factors can of cognitive decline.听听

One recently discovered risk is air pollution. exposure to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, with an increased risk of developing dementia, and researchers suspect that some sources of PM2.5 may pose a greater risk than others.听

New research led by the 天美影视传媒 found that wildfire smoke is especially hazardous. An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.听听听

The researchers at the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association International Conference in July and

鈥淭here have been studies that have found total PM2.5 is related to people developing dementia, but no one had looked specifically at wildfire PM2.5,鈥� said lead author , a UW associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences. 鈥淲ildfire smoke is a different animal, in that it鈥檚 much spikier. There are many days where there鈥檚 no wildfire smoke, and there are some days where exposure is really, really extreme.鈥�听

Researchers analyzed the health records of 1.2 million members aged 60 and older of Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2008 and 2019, all of whom were free from dementia at the start of the study period. They estimated each person鈥檚 long-term exposure to both wildfire and non-wildfire PM2.5 as a three-year rolling average, and then identified people who received a dementia diagnosis.听

Researchers found that for every 1 microgram per cubic meter (碌g/m3) increase in three-year average wildfire PM2.5 concentration, the odds of a dementia diagnosis increased by 18%. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person鈥檚 risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.听听

鈥淥ne microgram per meter cubed might sound fairly small, but we have to think about how people are exposed to wildfire smoke,鈥� Casey said. 鈥淢ost days they aren鈥檛 exposed at all, so this might represent a few days of exposure at a concentration of something like 300 碌g/m3, where the AQI is over 200 in someone鈥檚 community. When you think about it, it鈥檚 actually a few really severe wildfire smoke days that might translate into increased risk.鈥�听

That risk further increased among racialized people and those living in high-poverty census tracts, following long-term trends in which vulnerable populations often experience disproportionate effects of environmental hazards. The authors suggested that disparities might be related to lower-quality housing, which can increase the amount of smoke that enters people鈥檚 homes, or lower-income families鈥� inability to afford air filtration systems.听听

The study period does not include the summers of 2020 and 2021, which produced the most recorded in California. The climate crisis has the frequency and severity of wildfires across the American West, introducing 鈥渟moke season鈥� in many West Coast regions The influx of smoke has at air quality improvements made over the last century.听

“The main culprit here is climate change,鈥� Casey said. 鈥淚t’s a global problem. While individuals can protect themselves with air filters and masks, we need a global solution to climate change. It’s going to have to be many-pronged听鈥� many people have to be involved to solve this highly complex problem.”听

Co-authors on this study are Holly Elser of the University of Pennsylvania; Timothy Frankland of the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Center for Integrated Health Research; Chen Chen and Tarik Benmarhnia of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego; Sara Tartof and Gina Lee of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Elizabeth Rose Mayeda of UCLA; Dr. Alexander Northrop of Columbia University; and Jacqueline Torres of UC San Francisco. This research was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.听