Victoria Barber, PhD

During a wildfire, smoke leaks into buildings and impacts air quality. Smoke is a mixture of components, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are responsible for the smell of smoke. Indoor materials act like sponges for VOCs; VOCs stored in these materials can leak out into the indoor air over time. This is why smoky smells can persist for so long in indoor environments. Inhaling VOCs is associated with lung health problems, so the persistence of smoke VOCs in indoor air is a major health concern. We will do controlled laboratory experiments exposing common household materials to laboratory-generated smoke and measuring the types and amounts of VOCs that are absorbed and reemitted from these materials. Next, we will expose cultured human airway cells to these VOCs to examine how exposure impacts airway health. Finally, we will test surface cleaning approaches to reduce concentrations of smoke VOCs in indoor air and their associated health risks.

Update: Wildfire smoke deposits toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto household surfaces, which re-emit into indoor air for weeks after a smoke event, causing a persistent health hazard that outlasts the fire itself. In the past year, our research team designed and built a state-of-the-art smoke exposure system. It allows us to expose household materials to carefully controlled doses of wood smoke under laboratory conditions and precisely measure which toxic compounds are released and how fast. Using this system, we showed that smoke-exposed carpet releases a complex mixture of toxic VOCs into the air for an extended period after the smoke source is removed. This directly demonstrates that household materials act as a reservoir for smoke pollutants, sustaining indoor exposure long after a smoke event ends. Collaborators have seen equally striking results, showing that gases from smoke-contaminated carpet, including carpet from a Palisades Fire–affected home, drive DNA damage response signaling in human airway cells, even without particles present. These findings reveal a hidden, ongoing dimension of wildfire smoke exposure with direct implications for millions of people in smoke-affected communities.