Impact of global short-term landscape fire sourced PM2.5 exposure on child cause-specific morbidity: a study in multiple countries and territories
Children are particularly vulnerable to landscape fire sourced fine particulate matter (LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub>), yet evidence on its health effects remains limited. Here we show that short-term exposure to LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> is associated with increased hospital admissions for multiple diseases in children and adolescents. We analysed daily hospital admission data from 1012 communities in seven countries/territories, linked to a high-resolution LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> dataset. Each 10 μg/m<sup>3</sup> increase in LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> was associated with elevated risks for all-cause (1.1%), respiratory (1.9%), infectious (1.5%), cardiovascular (2.9%), neurological (2.8%), diabetes (3.7%), cancer (1.5%), and digestive (0.8%) hospital admissions. Risks for respiratory, infectious, and neurological conditions increased even at low exposure, while others rose only above 15-20 μg/m<sup>3</sup>. Children aged 5-9 years and those in lower socioeconomic areas were especially affected. These findings highlight the health burden of LFS PM<sub>2.5</sub> in young people and the urgent need to reduce exposure and protect vulnerable populations.
Authors
- Éric Lavigne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6146-9839)
- Yao Yu Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8105-0522)
- Yuan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0670-9104)
- Pei Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7485-1751)
- Bo Wen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8379-1730)
- Luke D. Knibbs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0399-2370)
- Zhihu Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4634-4709)
- Simon Hales (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4529-7595)
- Jane Heyworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1411-4554)
- Kraichat Tantrakarnapa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1943-6202)
- Guy B. Marks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8976-8053)
- Fay H. Johnston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5150-8678)
- Michael John Abramson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9954-0538)
- Rongbin Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1906-8614)
- Shuang Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5086-4670)
- Gongbo Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6613-5923)
- Lídia Morawska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0594-9683)
- Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coêlho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9732-1278)
- Wenzhong Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8871-1947)
- Zhengyu Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7291-4475)
- Wissanupong Kliengchuay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0103-0888)
- Wenhua Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4733-8610)
- Tingting Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5405-7051)
- Patricia Matus Correa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1844-6564)
- Geoffrey Morgan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4046-2405)
- Shanshan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9021-8470)
- Yanming Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8599-7118)
- Yue Leon Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8530-4809)
- Yiwen Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9570-4147)
- Yuming Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1766-6592)
- Yuxi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0176-7620)
- Ke Ju (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8040-8978)
- Paulo Hilario Nascimento Sadiva
Institutions
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- University of Ottawa (CA)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Universidad de Los Andes, Chile (CL)
- Mahidol University (TH)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Monash Health (AU)
- Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (TH)
- National Taiwan University Hospital (TW)
- Chongqing Emergency Medical Center (CN)
- Monash University (AU)
- University of Otago (NZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64411-0
- Primary Topic
- Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- China Scholarship Council
- National Research Council of Thailand
- Medical Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council