Nice campfire, but how good is its smoke for you?/Kurt Repanshek file
Campfires have been part of camping in the National Park System forever, most likely. There certainly were campfires in the area we now know as Yellowstone National Park before it was a park. But is the smoke from campfires good for you?
Smoke from one small campfire probably isn't terrible for you, unless you sit immediately downwind of the flames. But, what about those campgrounds with dozens and dozens of campsites, each one with its own fire ring?
During a recent stay at the Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park many of those fire rings got used. When the sun went down, the dancing flames, and their choking smoke, went up. For the next five or six hours the smoke swirled and blew and at times downright stunk (especially when people doused the flames with water; a good thing, but the smell is not so good.)
Being directly downwind of two of those campsites with campfires, we ate, smelled, and suffered through a lot of smoke during our two nights there. Not fun. And when the winds kicked up with gusts that seemed to reach 25-35 mph, I worried about flying sparks melting holes in our tent, or even setting a real wildfire.
Recently there have been stories in the news about the pollutants carried in the smoke from last year's wildfires in the West. One just came out last week from the University of California at Berkeley, and said:
Wildfire smoke can trigger a host of respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms, ranging from a runny nose and cough to a potentially life-threatening heart attack or stroke. A new study suggests that the dangers posed by wildfire smoke may also extend to the largest organ in the human body and our first line of defense against outside threat: the skin.
“Existing research on air pollution and health outcomes has focused primarily on cardiac and respiratory health outcomes, and understandably so. But there is a gap in the research connecting air pollution and skin health,” said study lead author Raj Fadadu, a student in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. “Skin is the largest organ of the human body, and it’s in constant interaction with the external environment. So, it makes sense that changes in the external environment, such as increases or decreases in air pollution, could affect our skin health.”
Other studies have pointed out the bad health effects wood smoke causes on youngsters' respiratory systems, raised questions about the health impacts of bacteria and fungi carried into the air smoke from fires, and claimed wood smoke is worse for you than your car's exhaust.
Now, imagine if your lungs are comprised for some reason, or you have heart issues, or both. Do you pitch your tent or park your RV in a campground where you might fall to sleep with dozens, or possibly more than 100, campfires flickering outside your thin tent walls or RV? Sure, it's not like a 10,000-acre wildfire bellowing smoke, but at times the campground smoke can hover in place.
We're searching for specific studies on the health effects of campground campfire smoke and will relay them if we find any, but in the meantime, what do you think about campfire smoke in national park campgrounds.
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Comments
I'm 74 years old. Growing up we had backyard campfires and camped in tents in NY state forests and parks. Continued to camp every year after marriage and children. Was a Boy Scout master for 20 years and still enjoy our back yard fires and those at our summer cottage. I see no ill effects to me or my children or grandchildren. We are exposed to many more dangerous chemicals in the processed food we each every day. Read a lable. Everything has preservatives let alone the other strange sounding items in the food. Most people eat this everyday and think nothing of feeding it to their children! We are exposed to campfires maybe 1-2 dozen times a year. We aren't concerned about all the insect spray or sunscreen we smear all over ourselves. These days we want people to use SPF 50 and Deet 40%. 20 years from now are we going to find it caused problems??
Let people enjoy the experience of camping with a campfire. How many of my generation are sick because we enhaled smoke from a campfire?? If you don't like it there are places in the State Forests where you can camp that isn't in a public park. That way there are no other people to listen to or have fires. I find the noise pollution in most large campgrounds is worse that the smell of a campfire.
Thank you
Patricia Childs
Excellent commentary.
Camping in the great outdoor should not include smoke that we did not want. If people must have a fire make it propane and smoke free. All campgrounds should be smoke free and even better to include no cigarettes or smoke of any kind. Bad for health period.
ive had to put up with neighbors smoke pits and it just didn't seem fair.
The concept of "clean" smoke does not exist in science. The luring nice smell of a campfire might be rooted in our traditions but it's not less damaging for human's health. Fine particulate PM2.5 concentrations can reach unhealthy levels in campgrounds and affect everyone's health. We are not talking here about one fire ring in someone's background, we are talking about dozens or hundreds of campfires in densely packed national parks campings. Science has established a clear link between air pollution and the number of campfires. The camping smog can sometimes be worse than the pollution in the worst polluted cities in the world. According to WHO, 6 million premature deaths occur every year from air pollution. Next time you go camping and think you are breathing fresh air, just bring a cheap PM2.5 monitor to see how much pollution you and your kids are being exposed to. I live in a city and a busy weekend in the closest national park often leads to air pollution equivalent to 10 times a normal winter city smog. Atmospheric conditions at night can trap smoke close to the ground and transform the campground into a big almost closed pollution container.
My whole family got seriously sick and is still experiencing serious respiratory symptoms weeks after a weekend camping trip. I'm now a strong advocate for the banishment of individual campfires in densely packed campgrounds. Would you bring your kids camping in a cigar lounge ? Only communal campfires far from camping grounds and maintained by rangers for the purpose of teaching old traditions should be allowed in national parks.
We have stayed in many campgrounds over the years and have realized that many campers DO NOT have the skills to start or maintain a clean campfire. They purchase bundles of wood but don't have kindling, or wood that isn't seasoned, burning trash, leaves, accelerant, motor oil, pressure treated wood. The whole campground and surrounding neighborhood are full of smoke. Then go inside and leave the fire burning.