<
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/05/studies-wildfire-smoke-exposure-health-effects-fertility-sperm-eggs-embryos/>
"Fertility isn’t a topic that tends to come up in the macho, male-dominated
world of wildland firefighting—at least not according to Jasper Kehoe, 23, who
served as a Colorado wildland firefighter for four summers.
But whenever Kehoe talked about his job in the off-season—working as a student
researcher at Colorado State University to assess the impact of wildfire smoke
on semen—his colleagues’ ears perked up.
Even more surprising to Kehoe, they wanted to get involved: When he posted
about the study in an industry Facebook group, he received more than 150
messages from firefighters who wanted to participate.
“After you get over the stigma of talking about fertility, somewhat of a taboo
subject in our community,” Kehoe said, “these firefighters are concerned with
the ability to conceive.”
Kehoe helped recruit 144 wildland firefighters to submit pre-, mid- and
post-fire season semen samples over the past year. He hopes that his work helps
lead to a greater understanding of smoke’s health consequences, as well as more
protections for wildland firefighters and others.
When it’s published later this year or the next, the firefighter study will
join a new body of research on how wildfire smoke influences human fertility.
In comparison to smoke’s effects on pregnancies, it’s a topic that’s been
understudied. But with climate change causing more fires, especially in the
West, and infertility affecting 1 in 6 people worldwide, interest in the field
is growing. And so far, the results hold some warning signs for Westerners who
want to have children.
Several recent studies involve episodes of poor air quality in the Pacific
Northwest. Portlanders, for example, suffered from 10 days of severe smoke from
nearby wildfires in 2020. At the time, the city’s air quality index, or AQI,
almost went off the current scale altogether, with ratings near 500—the highest
and most dangerous level, indicating a serious health hazard."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
