Amazon Wildfires and Respiratory Health: Impacts during the Forest Fire Season from 2009 to 2019.

The Brazilian Amazon, a vital tropical region, faces escalating threats from human activities, agriculture, and climate change. This study aims to assess the relationship between forest fire occurrences, meteorological factors, and hospitalizations due to respiratory diseases in the Legal Amazon region from 2009 to 2019. Employing simultaneous equation models with official data, we examined the association between deforestation-induced fires and respiratory health issues. Over the studied period, the Legal Amazon region recorded a staggering 1,438,322 wildfires, with 1,218,606 (85%) occurring during August-December, known as the forest fire season. During the forest fire season, a substantial portion (566,707) of the total 1,532,228 hospital admissions for respiratory diseases were recorded in individuals aged 0-14 years and 60 years and above. A model consisting of two sets of simultaneous equations was constructed. This model illustrates the seasonal fluctuations in meteorological conditions driving human activities associated with increased forest fires. It also represents how air quality variations impact the occurrence of respiratory diseases during forest fires. This modeling approach unveiled that drier conditions, elevated temperatures, and reduced precipitation exacerbate fire incidents, impacting hospital admissions for respiratory diseases at a rate as high as 22 hospital admissions per 1000 forest fire events during the forest fire season in the Legal Amazon, 2009-2019. This research highlights the urgent need for environmental and health policies to mitigate the effects of Amazon rainforest wildfires, stressing the interplay of deforestation, climate change, and human-induced fires on respiratory health.

Socio-Environmental and Hematological Profile of Landfill Residents (São Jorge Landfill-Sao Paulo, Brazil).

We are experiencing an unprecedented urbanization process that, alongside physical, social and economic developments, has been having a significant impact on a population's health. Due to the increase in pollution, violence and poverty, our modern cities no longer ensure a good quality of life so they become unhealthy environments. This study aims to assess the effect of social, environmental and economic factors on the hematologic profile of residents of Santo André's landfill. In particular, we will assess the effect of social, economic, and environmental factors on current and potential disease markers obtained from hematological tests. The research method is the observational type, from a retrospective cohort, and by convenience sampling in Santo André in the Greater ABC (municipalities of Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo and São Caetano do Sul, southeast part of the Greater São Paulo Metropolitan Area, Brazil). The study determined a socio-environmental profile and the hematologic diseases screening related to a close location to the landfill. The disease manifests itself within a broad spectrum of symptoms that causes changes in blood count parameters. The objective of this work is to show that there is an association between social, environmental and economic factors and a variety of serious disease outcomes that may be detected from blood screening. A causal study of the effect of living near the landfill on these disease outcomes would be a very expensive and time-consuming study. This work we believe is sufficient for public health officials to consider policy and attempt remediation of the effects of living near a landfill.