People who are most often exposed to forest fires are at greater risk of developing cancer, according to a recent study.
To reach this conclusion, researchers from McGill University observed more than two million Canadians over a period of 20 years. This is the first study at the global level to have looked at forest fires as a factor influencing the risk of cancer.
The study showed that Canadians who lived within 50 km or less of a wildfire in the past 10 years had a 10% higher rate of brain tumors and a 4.9% higher rate of lung cancer higher than people who lived further away.
With this study, the researchers sounded the alarm.
“Forest fires emit pollutants, many of which are carcinogenic to humans, which suggests that exposure to these fires could increase the risk of cancer in humans,” explained Jill Korsiak, doctoral student in the professor’s laboratory. Weichenthal, who led the analysis.
The more the years pass, the more forest fires become a real global scourge. Not only are they becoming more intense and more frequent, but they affect air quality and pollute aquatic and soil environments. However, a new, more in-depth study is needed to understand the extent of the consequences of forest fires on the environment, according to the researchers.