Forest fire smoke kills 14 times more people than previously estimated

Brussels – Choking smoke from forest fires is much more dangerous than previously thought. This is stated in a study by scientists published in The Lancet, according to which the number of fatalities from breathing in these particles has been underestimated by as much as 93 per cent. 

According to research, between 2004 and 2022, an average of 535 people per year died in Europe as a result of inhaling the tiny toxic PM2-5 particles released by forest fires. 

“The associations with all-cause and cause-specific mortality were greater for fire-related PM2-5 than for non-fire-related PM2-5. Assuming that PM2-5 from forest fires has the same effect as total PM2-5 substantially underestimates the mortality burden of forest fire smoke,” the research states. ‘Therefore, these particles, which are present in most air pollutants, are extremely more deadly in the specific case of fire smoke, which has never been found before. Using the same investigation criteria, deaths from this cause should only be 38 per year, and not 535. 

The study, funded by the European Commission, EU Horizon Europe, the European Research Council, and the Research Council of Finland, comes at a dramatic time, when fires are ravaging Southern Europe. New data from EU fire monitoring shows that 895,000 hectares have already gone up in smoke by 2025, breaking records for this time of year. They emitted more than twice the amount of PM2-5 generated on average by forest fires at this time of year over the past two decades.