The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently promoted a national campaign titled Air Quality Awareness Week (AQAW). This event was held from May 5th to May 9th, in collaboration with other partners, including the Department of Environmental Conservation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). According to the EPA, the AQAW’s main focus is to increase air quality awareness by sharing resources and information, and to incorporate this knowledge into their daily lives [1]. Throughout the week, the EPA had daily topics that include: Wildland Fires and Smoke, Asthma and Your Health, Indoor Air Quality, and Air, Animals and Plants [1].

Wildland Fires, Smoke, and Indoor Air Quality

AQAW started with an important discussion on what wildland fires are and their effects on air quality. Wildland fires can be described as a fire that occurs in “an area where there is little to no human activity or development” [2]. The causes of these fires can be both natural, such as lightning or volcanoes, in which case the fire would more specifically be called a wildfire [3]. Wildland fires also include prescribed fires, which are planned fires created by people for the purpose of reducing fuels to limit the size of future fires [3]. This discussion about wildland fires is especially important because there has been an increase in fire rates globally. More specifically, 2020, 2021, and 2023 mark the fourth, third, and first worst years for global forest fires, respectively [4]. Focusing on North America, both the United States and Canada have experienced much greater rates of fires and damage caused by fires. In 2024, the US saw 64,897 wildfires with 8,924,884 acres of land being burned [5]. This is higher than not only the 5-year average but also the 10-year average [5].

The US and Canada have experienced much greater rates of fires and damage caused by fires in recent times.

The EPA transitions to talk about the potential effects of wildland fire smoke by stating that healthy people are not at major risk but those with “heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teenagers, and people who are more likely to be exposed are at increased risk of experiencing health effects” [2]. The EPA also provides information about how to use AirNow, an online website and app that can track the Air Quality Index in one’s area. Additionally, AQAW also provided tips on how to protect indoor quality during and after a wildfire smoke event. These tips included avoiding creating smoke from cooking or smoking, filtering the air using a portable air cleaner, closing windows and doors, and running fans or air conditioners to recirculate air [2]. The second day of AQAW included a discussion about the sources of indoor pollutants and health risks associated with these pollutants. Although it may be generally thought that indoor air quality is better than outdoor air quality, the EPA draws attention to the importance of indoor air quality maintenance by stating that sources of indoor air pollution can cause the indoor air quality to be worse than outdoor air [5]. Common sources of indoor air pollution include tobacco and vape products, mold from water leaks, and household cleaning products. Tips to improve indoor air quality are similar to tips on how to protect indoor air quality during and after a wildfire: improve ventilation, and use portable air cleaning or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning filters [6].

Asthma and Your Health

air pollution can impact ecosystems directly through the air but also indirectly through the water and soil

 This year's AQAW also included World Asthma Day, which was on May 6th 2025, and was also a focus of the EPA. According to a study done out of University of Washington in collaboration with the EPA, it was found that there is particularly strong evidence that links smoke exposure to “exacerbation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases” [7]. Focusing further on the health effects of wildfires, environmental irritants like wildland fire smoke were positively correlated with “increased risk of congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and/or acute myocardial infarction" [6]. The EPA urges people to be aware of not only these effects of environmental irritants but also the effects that indoor allergens and irritants can have on asthma, strokes, and heart attacks [7].

Air, Animals, and Plants

The EPA also takes time to share information about how air pollution can impact ecosystems directly through the air but also indirectly through the water and soil.           To start, air pollutants can cause acid rain to occur which can form nitrogen, sulfur and other compounds that if drained into lakes and streams, can harm fish and other wildlife [8]. More specifically, acid rain can cause such water bodies to become too acidic for some animals to survive, or alter the chemical make up of the soil which can also harm the animals and plants [10]. In addition to the lung and cardiovascular issues that air pollution and environmental irritants cause mentioned prior, wildlife health can also be harmed in similar ways. [9]. In addition to measuring compounds from acid rain such as reactive nitrogen, another metric that can be used to understand the effect of air pollution on the environment is mercury levels. Mercury in the Environment and Links to Deposition Science Committee found that high mercury levels from air pollution can interfere with the “health, growth and reproduction” [10] and wildlife. Thinking on a broader scale, air pollution can also affect wildlife by “entering the food chain and damaging the supply and quality of food” [10]. For instance, certain pollutants can be consumed and stored in the animal’s tissue, which if eaten by other animals along the food chain, will continue to increase in concentration [11]. This is a phenomenon called bioaccumulation which disrupts the ecosystem and can result in population decline of certain species but can also lead to toxins entering the human food chain as well [11].

The EPA ends their AQAW by noting the current work they are doing to protect the public health from pollutant emissions and the efforts they have taken to improve air quality. Such work includes further research on exploring the “dynamic interrelationships between natural ecosystems and air quality” [9].

The AQAW shared crucial information about the effects of poor air quality from wildland fires and indoor air pollutants on human, animal and plant life. This information was always in close conversation with how people can use their air quality knowledge in their day to day lives to keep themselves and the environment around them safe and healthy.

References

1. US EPA, “Air Quality Awareness Week,” www.epa.gov, Feb. 22, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/air-quality/air-quality-awareness-week
2. US EPA, “Wildland Fires and Smoke,” www.epa.gov, Feb. 22, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/air-quality/wildland-fires-and-smoke
3. “Wildfires, Prescribed Fires, and Fuels - Wildland Fire Program (U.S. National Park Service),” Nps.gov, 2016. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1965/wildfires-prescribed-fires-fuels.html
4. J. MacCarthy, S. Tyukavina, M. Weisse, N. Harris, and J. Richter, “New Data Confirms: Forest Fires Are Getting Worse,” www.wri.org, Aug. 2024, Available: https://www.wri.org/insights/global-trends-forest-fires 
5. National Interagency Fire Center, “Wildfires and Acres,” nifc.gov, 2022. https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/statistics/wildfires
6. “Indoor Air Quality | US EPA,” US EPA, Mar. 05, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/air-quality/indoor-air-quality
7. D. A. Jaffe et al., “Wildfire and prescribed burning impacts on air quality in the United States,” Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, vol. 70, no. 6, Apr. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2020.1749731.
8. “Asthma and Your Health | US EPA,” US EPA, Feb. 22, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/air-quality/asthma-and-your-health 
9. US EPA, “Air, Animals and Plants,” www.epa.gov, Mar. 14, 2024. https://www.epa.gov/air-quality/air-animals-and-plants
10. “Air pollution: Effects on Wild Animals - Canada.ca,” Canada.ca, May 29, 2012. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/air-pollution/quality-environment-economy/ecosystem/wild-animals.html
11. https://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/aqaw-2024/air-animals-and-plants/
12. “Bioaccumulation: Effects & Causes | Vaia,” Vaia, 2019. https://www.vaia.com/en-us/explanations/environmental-science/pollution/bioaccumulation/

Image Credits:

"Wildfire" by NPS Climate Change Response is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

"Air Pollution environmental green problem" by RecondOil is licensed under CC BY 2.0.