![]() ![]() ![]() Due to our warming climate, the exposure to wildfire smoke is likely to only increase, with more children exposed to wildfire smoke as the century goes on. In parts of the USA, up to 20% of the fine particulate matter to which children are exposed results from wildfires. The single-day record for school closures due to wildfires (either direct effects or smoke related) was on Novemwhen over 1 million California school children had classes canceled due to wildfires. The increase in wildfires in recent years suggests that this population at risk has only grown. ![]() There are an estimated 7.4 million children in the United States affected by wildfire smoke annually, many of them in the Southeast, Pacific Northwest, and California. The evidence base described may help clinical and public health authorities provide accurate information to families to improve their decision making. Schools should improve filtration to reduce exposure of our nation’s children to smoke during wildfire events. Surgical masks and respirators can provide limited protection for children during wildfire events, with expected decreases of roughly 20% and 80% for surgical masks and N95 respirators, respectively. ![]() Low-cost particulate sensors demonstrate the spatial variability of pollution, including wildfire smoke, where children live and play. There is an established literature of health effects in children from components of ambient air pollution, which are also present in wildfire smoke, and an emerging literature on the effects of wildfire smoke, particularly for respiratory outcomes. To address the need for improved public health messaging this review summarizes current knowledge and knowledge gaps in the health effects of wildfire smoke in children, as well as tools for public health response aimed at children, including consideration of low-cost sensor data, respirators, and exposures in school environments. Wildfire smoke is an increasing environmental health threat to which children are particularly vulnerable, for both physiologic and behavioral reasons. ![]()
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