Are Wildfires and Floods Causing Heart Disease? An Environmental Experts Weighs In

Even though we think of wildfires and floods as being complete polar opposites when it comes to natural disasters, they do have one thing in common, heart disease. 

Environmental specialist Douglas Mulhall provides commentary on how wildfires and floods trigger heart disease and what we can do to protect ourselves.

“The USEPA recently added to its guidance on the risks of wildfire smoke and particles when they enter homes and other indoor environments. Toxic dust generated by the combustion of vegetation and products contains heavy metals like cadmium, lead, and nickel, and zinc. Fine, inhalable airborne particles, known as PM2.5, are released and can trigger heart disease when inhaled. Watersheds are also affected by toxic metal runoff from rains after wildfires, as soil from denuded slopes washes into reservoirs. Impacts could persist for years as soil dust continues entering communities,” says Mulhall. 

In areas like the American Southwest where wildfires are becoming more and more common, we might start to see a spike in heart disease diagnosis for the residents who have to weather these events. 

Mulhall goes on to say that, “A big part of stopping heavy metal contamination is to prevent it from getting into buildings in the first place. A recent study by Honeywell estimated that 97% of particulates in hotels can be captured. Following building standards like WELL and Reset, with strict requirements for filtering outdoor air, is one strategy to reduce toxic  particles to create healthier spaces. Installing and regularly maintaining HEPA or MERV-13 or higher filters can greatly reduce the impact of smoke and particulates from outdoors in interior environments.”

Environmental impacts like wildfires and flooding on our health are often overlooked because we’re trained to focus on the immediate loss of life and buildings. If you are interested in learning more about how these environmental disasters impact our health, I’d be happy to connect you with regular media contributor, Douglas Mulhal. Douglas has been featured on A&E’s Modern Marvels series Future Tech, CNN, NBC News, CBS News and more.