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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 16, 2018 3A
Wildfires spark concern
over health consequences
BEN MARGOT I Associated Press
A man wears a mask while waiting for public transit on
Wednesday, Nov. 14, in Alameda, Calif.
BY LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
Smoke masks. Eye
drops. No outdoor exercise.
This is how Californians
are trying to cope with
wildfires choking the state,
but experts say an increase
in serious health problems
may be almost inevitable
for vulnerable residents
as the disasters become
commonplace.
Research suggests chil
dren, the elderly and those
with existing health prob
lems are most at risk.
Short-term exposure to
wildfire smoke can worsen
existing asthma and lung
disease, leading to emer
gency room treatment or
hospitalization, studies
have shown.
Increases in doctor vis
its or hospital treatment
for respiratory infections,
bronchitis and pneumonia
in otherwise healthy people
also have been found dur
ing and after wildfires.
Some studies also have
found increases in ER vis
its for heart attacks and
strokes in people with
existing heart disease on
heavy smoke days during
previous California wild
fires, echoing research on
potential risks from urban
air pollution.
For most healthy people,
exposure to wildfire smoke
is just an annoyance, caus
ing burning eyes, scratchy
throats or chest discomfort
that all disappear when the
smoke clears.
But doctors, scientists
and public health offi
cials are concerned the
changing face of wildfires
will pose a much broader
health hazard,
“Wildfire season used to
be June to late September.
Now it seems to be happen
ing all year round. We need
to be adapting to that,”
Dr. Wayne Cascio, a U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency cardiologist, said
this week.
In an overview published
this year, Cascio wrote the
increasing frequency of
wildland fires, urban expan
sion into wooded areas and
an aging population are
increasing the number of
people at risk for health
problems from fires.
Wood smoke contains
some of the same toxic
chemicals as urban air pol
lution, along with tiny par
ticles of vapor and soot 30
times thinner than a human
hair. These can infiltrate
the bloodstream, poten
tially causing inflammation
and blood vessel damage
even in healthy people,
research on urban air pol
lution has shown. Studies
have linked heart attacks
and cancer with long-term
exposure to air pollution.
Whether exposure to
wildfire smoke carries the
same risks is uncertain,
and determining harm
from smog versus wildfire
smoke can be tricky, espe
cially with wind-swept Cali
fornia wildfires spreading
thick smoke hundreds of
miles away into big cities.
“That is the big ques
tion,” said Dr. John Balmes,
a University of California,
San Francisco, who studies
air pollution.
“Very little is known
about the long-term effects
of wildfire smoke because
it’s hard to study popula
tions years after a wild
fire,” Balmes said.
Decreased lung function
has been found in healthy
firefighters during fire sea
son. They tend to recover
but federal legislation
signed this year will estab
lish a U.S. registry tracking
firefighters and potential
risks for various cancers,
including lung cancer.
Some previous studies sug
gested a risk.
Balmes noted increased
lung cancer rates have
been found in women who
spend every day cooking
over wood fires.
That kind of extreme
exposure doesn’t typically
happen with wildfires, but
experts worry about the
kinds of health damage
that may emerge for fire
fighters and residents with
these blazes occurring so
often.
Whether that includes
more cancer is unknown.
“We’re concerned about
that,” Balmes said.
Preliminary data show
widespread respiratory
problems, eye irritations,
anxiety, depression and
sleep problems around the
time of the fire and months
later.
Florida Senate race goes to
hand recount as lead tightens
BY GARY FINEOUT
AND BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
— Florida’s acrimonious
battle for the U.S. Senate is
headed to a legally required
hand recount after an initial
review showed Gov. Rick
Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson
separated by just a few thou
sand votes.
But the highly watched
contest between Republican
Ron DeSantis and Democrat
Andrew Gillum appears to
be over, with a machine
recount showing that DeSan
tis’ advantage over Gillum
was big enough to avoid a
hand recount in that race.
Gillum, who conceded the
race on Election Night only
to retract his concession
later, said in a statement “it
is not over until every legally
casted vote is counted.”
The recount so far has
been fraught with problems
as one Democratic strong
hold in South Florida was
unable to finish its machine
recount by the Thursday
deadline due to machines
breaking down. A federal
judge rejected a request to
extend the recount deadline.
“We gave a heroic effort,”
said Palm Beach Supervisor
of Elections Susan Bucher. If
the county had three or four
more hours they would have
made the deadline, she said.
Meanwhile, election offi
cials in another urban county
in the Tampa Bay area
decided against turning in
the results of their machine
recount, which came up with
846 fewer votes than origi
nally counted.
Counties were ordered
this past weekend to do a
machine recount of three
statewide races because
the margins were so tight.
The next stage is a manual
review of ballots that were
not counted by machines to
see if there a way to figure
out voter intent.
The recount has triggered
multiple lawsuits, many of
them filed by Nelson and
Democrats. The legal battle
drew the ire of U.S. District
Judge Mark Walker, who
slammed the state Thurs
day for repeatedly failing
to anticipate election prob
lems. He also said the state
law on recounts appears to
violate the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that decided the
presidency in 2000.
“We have been the laugh
ingstock of the world, elec
tion after election, and we
chose not to fix this,” Walker
said in court.
Walker vented his anger
at state lawmakers and Palm
Beach County officials, say
ing they should have made
sure they had enough equip
ment in place to handle this
kind of a recount. But he
said he could not extend the
recount deadline because
he did not know when Palm
Beach County would finish
its work.
“This court must be able to
craft a remedy with knowl
edge that it will not prove
futile,” Walker wrote in his
ruling turning down the Dem
ocrats’ request. “It cannot do
so on this record. This court
does not and will not fashion
a remedy in the dark.”
The overarching problem
was created by the Florida
Legislature, which Walker
said passed a recount law
that appears to run afoul of
the 2000 Bush v. Gore deci
sion, by locking in proce
dures that do not allow for
potential problems.
A total of six election-
related lawsuits are pending
in Tallahassee. Thursday
Walker ordered that voters
be given until 5 p.m. Saturday
to show a valid identification
and fix their ballots if they
have not been counted due to
mismatched signatures.
State officials testified that
nearly 4,000 mailed-in bal
lots were set aside because
local officials decided the
signatures on the envelopes
did not match the signa
tures on file. If those voters
can prove their identity,
their votes will be counted
and included in final offi
cial returns due from each
county by noon Sunday.
Walker was asked by
Democrats to require local
officials to provide a list of
people whose ballots were
rejected. But the judge
appointed by President
Obama refused the request,
calling it “inappropriate.”
Under state law, a hand
review is required with
races that have a margin of
0.25 percentage points or
less. A state website put the
unofficial results showing
Republican Gov. Rick Scott
ahead of Nelson by 0.15 per
centage points. The margin
between DeSantis and Gil
lum was 0.41 percent.
Nelson and Democrats
had wanted Walker to order
the counting of all mail-in
ballots rejected for a mis
matched signature, arguing
that local election officials
are not handwriting experts.
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