The Chemistry of Fires at the Wildland-Urban Interface (2022) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 9-14
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From page 9... ...
The chapter concludes with a description of the organization of the rest of the report. WILDFIRES AT THE WUI Wildfire activity in the United States is increasing as more frequent extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts, and lightning activity, cause wildfires (Ahrens, 2013; Schwartz and Penney, 2020)
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To enhance their efforts, CDC, NIEHS, and NIST asked the National Academies to evaluate chemistry information that would improve the mitigation of acute and long-term health effects of residential burning during wildfires and to recommend chemistry research that could help to inform decision-makers charged with mitigating wildfire impacts on the general public. As a result of the request, the National Academies convened the Committee on the Chemistry of Urban Wildfires, which prepared this report.
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Finally, although the work of the committee can inform mitigation measures such as reducing the use of materials in structures at the WUI that might lead to combustion products that have adverse health effects, the committee did not directly evaluate mitigation policies or measures. Because the work of the committee assesses what is known and identifies critical information gaps associated with exposures to chemical releases from WUI fires, this report can help to inform communications with exposed populations during fire events.
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The committee discussed inequity throughout the report; however, the majority of the report's related findings and recommendations can be found in Chapter 6, "Human Exposures, Health Impacts, and Mitigation." PRIOR RELATED WORK BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES This study focused specifically on fires at the WUI; however, the committee recognizes that a great deal can be learned from studying wildland fire research. The National Academies has held three workshops in recent years to gather experts together and share knowledge related to specific aspects of wildfire issues in the United States.
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From page 13... ...
Chapter 6 explores pollutants of concern for human exposure, environmental justice, and vulnerable populations, as well as ways to reduce exposure and mitigate the impacts of WUI fires. It addresses distance scales from the immediate fire zone, where people including firefighters experience direct exposure to heat and fire emissions, to the regional and continental levels, where WUI fire smoke can have an extended impact.
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From page 14... ...
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25622.
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