1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: At the end of twenty nineteen and into twenty twenty, 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,879 Speaker 1: massive bushfires ravaged Australia in what became known as Black Summer. 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 2: You know, you look outside at ten o'clock in the 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 2: morning and it would be a black sky and the sun, 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 2: if you could say, the sun would kind of be 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 2: like a red dot. It's just such an extreme amount 7 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 2: of smoke. 8 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: We hear a lot about the huge economic cost of 9 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: wildfires like this that are growing in frequency and size 10 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: across the globe. Just look at a place like California. 11 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: Homes destroyed, people's lives turned upside down. But the Australia 12 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 1: disaster is now three years later, awakened officials around the 13 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: world to another toll that's been harder to pin down. 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: I'm Westkasova today on the Big Take Bloomberg reporters Amy 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: Bainbridge and Angus Whitley on the elusive health hazards of wildfire, 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: especially on children. 17 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 2: The fires raged across eastern Australia for months on end. 18 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 2: They generated so much smoke they engulfed farmland, towns, twenty 19 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 2: four million hectares of land, the area equivalent to half 20 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 2: of California. It was just such a huge event. 21 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 3: Just the scale of them was something that well most 22 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 3: of Australia had never experienced before. And also because it 23 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 3: touched so much of the population, you know, by some 24 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 3: master it's eighty percent of the population. That there weren't 25 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 3: many people who weren't affected. And it really brought something 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 3: that maybe had had in the past, been something that 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 3: affected rural areas of Australia or remote communities. It brought 28 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 3: these fires into the city. People in the city were 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 3: suffering from smoke effects as well. You know, more than 30 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 3: thirty people directly died in the fires, you know, an 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 3: estimated four hundred and fifty on most people indirectly dying 32 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 3: from the forest. It was a tragic season that just 33 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 3: went on and on and on. 34 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 4: It was awful to live through. 35 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,399 Speaker 3: We wanted to go out and see what the long 36 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 3: term effects of this fire were. We knew that it 37 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 3: had devastating consequences in the immediate aftermath, but something that 38 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 3: long and that severe, we thought, well, three years after 39 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 3: the event, what is that done to people who lived 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 3: through that, and particularly what is it done to the kids, 41 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 3: the really young kids at the time who were breathing 42 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 3: in that smoke, and also the mothers who were pregnant 43 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 3: at the time, who were breathing in that smoke and 44 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 3: directly feeding that into their unborn children. So Aim and 45 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 3: I went at and tried to find the mothers and 46 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: the kids who were affected, and the results were terrifying 47 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 3: in some respects, and it kind of surprised us what 48 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 3: the kind of symptoms people were suffering. 49 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 2: A lot of the women that we spoke to, they're 50 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 2: still very traumatized when you talk about that event. At 51 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 2: the time, a lot of women say now reflecting they 52 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 2: weren't really equipped to stay out of the smoke to 53 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 2: try and prevent breathing those toxic particles into their bodies. 54 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 2: We were told that masks, which of course were all 55 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 2: now very familiar with, that the time was so hard 56 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 2: to access, trying to keep smoke out of your house 57 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 2: by blocking underdoors with wet towels, putting towels over fans 58 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 2: and things like that. People just couldn't stop breathing in 59 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 2: this smoke. And this lasted for weeks and weeks on end, 60 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: And that, of course went to the question the Angus 61 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 2: and I had was around this acute exposure. What happens 62 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 2: to your body? What can be the medium and long 63 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 2: term consequences of breathing in smoke in an event like that, 64 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 2: And once we started looking around, we realized that there 65 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 2: was a lot of literature on long term air pollution, 66 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 2: but there's some emerging research on the impact of breathing 67 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 2: in wildfire smoke, and that's kind of what we zeroed 68 00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 2: in on. 69 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 3: What we discovered was that the bush far or wildfire 70 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 3: smoke contains hundreds of different ingredients and a lot of 71 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 3: poisonous gases. You can imagine, it just burns through everything. 72 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 3: It's not a control blaze burning one particular type of fuel. 73 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 3: It burns through vehicles, It burns through houses, building materials, 74 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 3: and a thing that might be toxic in the house 75 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 3: goes up and smoke as best OFSS, bricks, concrete. There's 76 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 3: lots of really toxic substances. And what we discovered was 77 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 3: that doctors and academics are really focused in on this 78 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 3: tiny particular matter PM two point five in particular, which 79 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 3: it's full of little pieces of matter which are so 80 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 3: small that far too small to sea with the naked eye, 81 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 3: of far smaller than the width of the human hair. 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: And PM two point five is how scientists describe the 83 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: particulate matter in pollution or in wildfire smoke that lodges 84 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: in the lungs. 85 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 3: That's right, so small it penetrates your lungs, can even 86 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 3: enter the blood stream, and of course once it's in 87 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 3: your bloodstream, it can do all sorts of damage to 88 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 3: different organs. And that's really the matter that does the damage. 89 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 3: There's PM two point five in ambient air pollution, but 90 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 3: wildfaretmoke is particularly concentrated. 91 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: And what is the difference between wildfire smoke and just 92 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: air pollution. 93 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 3: Well, ambient air pollution is something that most of the 94 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 3: world deals with, you know, according to the World Health Organization, 95 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 3: almost everybody is breathing in some kind of polluted air 96 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 3: at some point. 97 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 4: But wildfast smoke is traditionally. 98 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 3: Very elevated for short periods of time at PM two 99 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 3: point five levels shoot off the scale. And at some 100 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 3: point during Black Summer in Australia, levels were ten times 101 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 3: more than safe levels in Australia, so it was very elevated. 102 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 3: And I think what marked Black Summer at was just 103 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 3: the longevity of the burning. Usually these things last a 104 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 3: few days. Black Summer burned for weeks and weeks and 105 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 3: nineteen weeks on end in some areas. So I think 106 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 3: that's what academics and people really interested in, Well, what 107 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 3: does that do to the body. You haven't seen that 108 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 3: kind of duration of polluted air, not in our lifetime anyway. 109 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 2: Fay Johnston, who's kind of like a world renowned researcher 110 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 2: on wildfire smoke, and she's based in Tasmania, in our 111 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 2: southern state of Australia, so she's been studying this for 112 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 2: twenty years and she kind of describes it as like 113 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 2: this toxic mix of harmful gases, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide. 114 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 5: So when I'm talking about particles suspended in the air, 115 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 5: they can range from great big bits of dust that 116 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 5: you can see or ash from a fire, right down 117 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 5: to nanoparticle sized bits of carbon or other things. 118 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 6: The tinier the particle, the more it gets into your system. 119 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 6: So anything smaller than a size of two and a 120 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 6: half micrometers micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter, so 121 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 6: it's really really tiny. Anything smaller than two point five 122 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 6: will enter into your lungs and can cross into your 123 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 6: bloodstream or so we offer talk about PM two point 124 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 6: five as one marker of particles and that's that smaller 125 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 6: size class, and that's the one most studied for health. 126 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 5: Any kind of combustion. 127 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 6: Will give off a lot of particles and a lot 128 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 6: of PM two point five. And when you're burning wood 129 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 6: or bushfires, that kind of we call it biomass combustion, 130 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 6: that generates a lot of PM two point five and 131 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 6: fast smaller size classes. So it's a really important source 132 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 6: of harmful particles in the air. 133 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 4: So when you. 134 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 6: Breathe, particles in your body will react to it like 135 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 6: it reacts to any hazards, and it will activate your 136 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 6: stress responses and your immune responses, just like if you've 137 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 6: got pneumonia or if you've got to burn, your body 138 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 6: reacts to the stress or the threat, and it does 139 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 6: that in a whole lot of ways. 140 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 2: And the other thing to think about amongst all this 141 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 2: is your underlying predisposition, the genetic factors that contribute to 142 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 2: you as a person, and what this kind of vision 143 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 2: might activate in your system, and then therefore what the 144 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 2: medium and long term consequences might be. 145 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 3: What Fay told us was that if you are a 146 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 3: healthy person, maybe you could withstand several days of elevated 147 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 3: PM two point five. But if you were perhaps just 148 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 3: susceptible to asthma. The same dose might trigger some long 149 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 3: term consequences in your own body, So it would have 150 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 3: different effects to different people, and you mayn't even know 151 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 3: that you're susceptible to it. Almost in that respect, it's 152 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 3: a bit of a lottery as to what it might 153 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,439 Speaker 3: do to you. Obviously, if you're already suffering from asthma, 154 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 3: you're predisposed to it, there's a chance it might affect 155 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 3: you worse. But there are so many unanswered questions the 156 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 3: mothers were grappling with. Did the smoke lead directly to 157 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 3: my child symptoms? Could I have done more? Is there 158 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 3: a direct link between what I'm seeing in my child 159 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 3: now and those days where I perhaps breathing in the 160 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 3: smoke without a mask at the time. And there is 161 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 3: a hole in the academic research at the moment that 162 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 3: medics and researchers are racing to fill. 163 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: And you decided to concentrate on children. Why is that? 164 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 2: We were aware that there was quite a major research 165 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 2: study happening in the state of New South Wales that 166 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 2: was trying to find out some answers around the medium 167 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 2: and long term health impacts of black Summer. It's called 168 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,319 Speaker 2: the Mother and Child twenty twenty study, and it's conducted 169 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 2: by a group of well known, high profile researchers who 170 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 2: know what they're doing. Basically, we were really interested to 171 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 2: find out why they wanted to know this. One of 172 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 2: the first things we did was connect with a general 173 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 2: practitioner who works in a rural area, runs a very 174 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 2: large clinic in southern New South Wales northern Victoria, kind 175 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 2: of in this border region, and she had given evidence 176 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 2: to a Senate committee hearing about the outcomes of black 177 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 2: Summer in terms of the smoke inhalation, and we started 178 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 2: with her and I just remember my first conversation with her, 179 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 2: and this was towards the end of last year, but 180 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 2: being kind of blown away by the sorts of things 181 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 2: she told us she witnessed at the time, and she 182 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 2: had really grave fears that no one was really doing 183 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 2: much about what happens when the next emergency invariably comes. 184 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: And that doctor's name is Rebecca McGough and here she 185 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: is talking to you. 186 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 7: There was one particular case that really made me set 187 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 7: up and start to take notice of this whole issue, 188 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 7: and it was a woman who baby was born early 189 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 7: the baby was born smaller. 190 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 8: But what really. 191 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 7: Struck me was her comments about her placenta, and she 192 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 7: was told that her placenta looked like she'd been a 193 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 7: smoker pacadet smoker. And the midwives were all around a 194 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 7: circle looking at this placenta. They took photos of it, 195 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 7: and they said. 196 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 8: You're a smoker, and she denied it. She said, I've 197 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:51,319 Speaker 8: never smoked in my life. 198 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 3: And another mother described her a placenter's being gritty. 199 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 7: A normal placenta is pink and fleshy, and it looks healthy. 200 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 7: A disease percenter has a lot of gray in it 201 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 7: and chalky white bits and parts of it that look 202 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 7: at what we call friable or a bit fragile, like 203 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 7: breaking away. The presenter is the most important thing to 204 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 7: keep the baby growing, so it is the powerhouse, so 205 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 7: it nourishes the baby. 206 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 8: It's the pathway, the portal between. 207 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 7: What the mother breeds in and what she eats, and 208 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 7: how that all that good nourishment is passed on to 209 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 7: the baby viole the percenta and the babies we know. 210 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 3: We also spoke to some doctors at the time, two 211 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 3: obstetricians who also described similar kind of experiences. But there 212 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 3: was one particular doctor, Michael Holland, who was a roving 213 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 3: obstetrician in Dan, south of Sydney, and he describes seeing 214 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 3: three still berths in an era that would ordinarily have 215 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 3: three hundred berths in a year, and that is very unusual, 216 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 3: he told us. 217 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 4: And that's either a coincidence or it's attributed to something. 218 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,959 Speaker 1: After the break, A mother describes the effects she believes 219 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: breathing smoke had on her child. 220 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 3: There was one boy, Colt, who was the son of 221 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,319 Speaker 3: one woman that we spoke to Dan and Allighan, about. 222 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 4: Four hours south of Sydney. The fires rolled in in. 223 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 3: Early twenty twenty and he's still on breathing medication. 224 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,599 Speaker 1: Dan Night, and you spoke to Colt's mother, Casey Douglas. 225 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 9: I just remember I pulled him under my shirt and 226 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 9: I had him here and I was trying to just 227 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 9: shelter him from the smoke. But looking outside at the 228 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 9: glass windows, the smoke was just in. No matter how 229 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 9: many all the windows were shut, the smoke was still 230 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,439 Speaker 9: coming in under the door. He was a healthy one 231 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 9: year old before the smoke, and the smoke was present, 232 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 9: but Colt didn't get bad until it was so close 233 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 9: to us. 234 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 3: There are the kids who perhaps not on regular medication now, 235 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,199 Speaker 3: but had used ventaline or breathing medication at some point 236 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 3: in the preceding period. It's a medication to help you breathe. 237 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 3: It's essentially a relaxant. It opens up the airways and 238 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 3: makes it easier to breathe. One of the key subjects 239 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 3: that we spoke to for our story Colt, little boy 240 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 3: who was one at the time, and his mother described 241 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 3: to us how when he first took it in the 242 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 3: days after the far almost immediately he started to breathe 243 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:41,559 Speaker 3: more easily. 244 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 9: No one's quick to link anything to the fires here, 245 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 9: but yeah, I know in my heart that the breathing 246 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 9: issues happened straight after the fires, if not during. He's 247 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 9: now on an asthma plan for his preschool and he 248 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 9: has a preventer in the morning and in her at night. 249 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 9: And if he doesn't have that prevenna, he has a 250 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,199 Speaker 9: really bad day. And he can hardly run around the 251 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 9: poor thing without wheezing and being out of breath and puff. 252 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 9: So it's taken a toll on him for sure. And yeah, 253 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 9: I feel for him because he'll be most likely on 254 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 9: vinolin for the rest of his life. 255 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 3: There was a woman we interviewed in a beautiful coastal 256 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 3: town called Tura Beach, which is south of Sydney, and 257 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 3: Emma and I drove down to meet a mother called 258 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 3: Jan Spears who was worried about her daughter Mia. 259 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: And that's the woman we heard about earlier who believed 260 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: her placenta had been damaged by wildfire smoke. 261 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 3: We spoke to her in her home and she was 262 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 3: just reeling off all the specialists in MIA's medical team 263 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 3: who were attending to her. There was a physiotherapist, there 264 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 3: was an occupational therapist, there was a speech therapist, there 265 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 3: was a pediatric neurologist trying to figure out what was 266 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 3: wrong with Mian. And Jen had had gone through this 267 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 3: intense period of smoke exposure. 268 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 4: She had as referred. 269 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 3: To earlier, she had gone through this sort of five 270 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 3: or six week period of intense smoke. 271 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 4: She tried escaping to Canberra. The smoke was actually worse 272 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 4: than camera. 273 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 3: She came back home and Tura Beach was really one 274 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 3: of those places that was almost sort of surrounded. It 275 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 3: was ambushed, if you like, by while far and they 276 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 3: didn't see the sun for weeks and there was smoke 277 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 3: all over the house. And this was when Jem was 278 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 3: pregnant with Mia. And it should be said that doctors 279 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 3: haven't connected MIA's symptoms with that smoke exposure, but it's 280 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 3: something that preys on Jen. And Mia missed her milestones, 281 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 3: developmental milestone, she was slow to eat solids. She was 282 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 3: born three weeks early because her growth had plateaued in 283 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 3: the womb. And again according to the midwives, MIA's placenta 284 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 3: was partly caulcif it was blackened as if Jen had 285 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 3: been a heavy smoker. And then subsequently Amir didn't crawl 286 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 3: until after her first birthday. 287 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 4: And she has hip. 288 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 3: Dysplasia, which is the medical term for a hip socket 289 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 3: that doesn't fully cover the ball portion of the upper 290 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 3: thigh bone. So really worrying symptoms that doctors haven't yet 291 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 3: connected to the smoke exposure. But then Jen is wondering, 292 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 3: you know, was it due to those few weeks of 293 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 3: smoke exposure. 294 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 4: Do we need to do things differently? 295 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 3: And she said she was talking to us, so no 296 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 3: one else in her position had to go through the 297 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 3: same experience again, So it's that gap in knowledge that 298 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 3: we spoke about earlier. That's really sort of weighing on 299 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 3: these mothers as well. 300 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: Amy, our doctor is able to draw connections between the 301 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: fires and these sorts of physical ailments that aren't just 302 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: breathing difficulties that you might naturally associate with in ailing smoke. 303 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 2: We asked these of the general practitioner Rebecca McGowan as well. 304 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 2: She is part of a number of lobby groups on 305 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 2: the vironment. She said that doctors are often very pushed 306 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 2: for time and it can be harder to get to 307 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 2: those bigger picture issues, but she's also confident that there 308 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 2: is an increasing awareness that there may be a link 309 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 2: and the only thing that's really going to help with 310 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,959 Speaker 2: this is gathering more data and really putting it firmly 311 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 2: on the agenda to give practitioners more confidence when they're 312 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 2: dealing with these kinds of cases. 313 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 7: It was estimated that in Sydney at the height of 314 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:32,640 Speaker 7: the black summer smoke and the fires, that it would 315 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 7: be walking around Sydney would be equivalent to smoking thirty 316 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 7: seven cigarettes in one day, and that was actually closer 317 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 7: so closer to the fires, it would be more than that. 318 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 8: So we have that data for the last seventy years. 319 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 7: On what smoking looks like in a woman pregnant woman, 320 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 7: so we can extrapolate a little bit. We're not just 321 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 7: blind blind with this. We do have some scientific information. 322 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: What do we know about the wide bread health effects 323 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: of the fires in Australia overall? 324 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 3: This is the key question. We know what it did 325 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 3: to people at the time. There's good data and the 326 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 3: immediate aftermath of higher presentations to emergency departments for cardiovascular complaints, 327 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 3: for ventil in prescriptions, for breathing difficulties, so all that 328 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 3: data is immediately available. What we don't know is what 329 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,919 Speaker 3: it's done to people like now three years after the event. 330 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:35,360 Speaker 3: And as Amy says that mother and Child twenty twenties 331 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 3: is a key study. But what's also key is that 332 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 3: these kind of studies go on and on and keep 333 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 3: looking at the kids as they progress into school through school, 334 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 3: and I think only then where you get a really 335 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 3: good picture of what bush forestmoke exposure does to you 336 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 3: during your key growth period as a child and into adulthood. 337 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 3: And there are previous studies in the US not particularly 338 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 3: focused on brig frostmoke, but more on generic air pollution. 339 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 3: For instance, there was a key study in the US 340 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 3: that started in the nineteen nineties was a study in 341 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 3: the University of California that traced a cohort of several 342 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 3: thousand kids through school in areas that were exposed to 343 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 3: air pollution, and they found that once a kid reaches eighteen, 344 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 3: any kind of damage that they've sustained to their lung 345 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 3: development is really. 346 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 4: Unlikely to be reversed. 347 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 3: So there were indicators in the past about what generic 348 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 3: air pollution does to children, but nothing really that pointed 349 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 3: to long term effects of wildfastmok in particular. 350 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 4: I think that's what people are wrestling with. 351 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 3: Now, as wildfare has a projected become more common, more severe, 352 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 3: longer lasting. The wider picture, there are countries that will 353 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 3: be impacted by wildfire smoke that haven't been impacted while 354 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 3: I smoke to such a degree in the future, as 355 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 3: the climate continues to warm. 356 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: When we come back, what's the plan for a future 357 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: with more wildfires and more smoke. 358 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 2: We know that meteorologists are warning bushfires are going to 359 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 2: become more frequent and destructive, and this whole problem is 360 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 2: just becoming to be tweet ignore. Already it's costing as 361 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 2: much as thirty six billion dollars a year in the 362 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 2: US alone. Meteorologists say that, you know, bushfires, wildfires are 363 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,360 Speaker 2: going to become more frequent and more destructive as temperatures 364 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 2: continue to rise, and we already know that long term 365 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 2: health problems are just going to add to that bill. 366 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 2: And something that people repeatedly raised to us mothers as 367 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 2: well is the economic productivity that comes out of that too, 368 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 2: Like women who have to take longer off work to 369 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 2: care for their children, do they need to spend more 370 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 2: time helping with developmental delays and things like that. So 371 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 2: there is some real economic consequences as well. We also 372 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 2: know that there are places around the world experiencing wildfires 373 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 2: that have never previously burned because of the changing climate. 374 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,160 Speaker 2: So in many ways it's putting all communities on their 375 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 2: toes as they learn about what could potentially lie ahead. 376 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 3: It was a really good United Nations Environment Program report 377 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 3: on wildfires, and that pointed to a lot of the 378 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 3: fires that were burning around the world that we hadn't 379 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 3: seen before. I think that they said in twenty twenty 380 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 3: fires in the Russian Arctic, for instance, burn tens of 381 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 3: millions of factors, and they'd been earlier. 382 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 4: Blazers in Alaska in Greenland and Canada, and I think 383 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 4: most warring. 384 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 3: And this was statistic that really struck me was that 385 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 3: these kind of catastrophes like Black Summer are almost sixty 386 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 3: percent more likely to happen this century as the climate warns. 387 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 3: And I think whereas California has experienced eight of its 388 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 3: ten largest fars on record in just the past five years, 389 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 3: which might tell you something. And we've had fires in 390 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 3: suburbs of major cities as well, like Athens Boulder in Colorado. 391 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 3: So I guess that's the pattern that's emerging. 392 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: What is Australia doing to try to protect people's health 393 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: the next time around in a way that they couldn't 394 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: anticipate before. 395 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 3: There was a key inquiry straight after the bush fires 396 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 3: the Black Summer into what happened, how we could approach 397 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 3: the next disaster better, and Royal Commission into the Black 398 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 3: Summer and that came out with eighty recommendations, including improving 399 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 3: air quality indication, improving the flow of information to people 400 00:22:55,440 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 3: in fire spots, working with the indigenous community to work 401 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 3: out how to manage the land better. Some of those 402 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 3: have been actioned, some of them haven't. And certainly that 403 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 3: there's a better network of air quality monitors that they're 404 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:16,640 Speaker 3: in place, but some of the recommendations that we hear 405 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 3: from academics and doctors go a bit further, like subsidized 406 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,360 Speaker 3: air purifiers for instance, for people who are particularly vulnerable, 407 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 3: for pregnant mothers, good supply of masks for pregnant mothers, 408 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 3: maybe even evacuation plans for pregnant mothers and vulnerable and kids, 409 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 3: like putting them at the head of the queue. So 410 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 3: there are steps that you can take that go further 411 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 3: than better information, better monitoring, better land management, but it's 412 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 3: not clear that those are being immediately actioned. 413 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: Our worldwide organizations like the w h O or the 414 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: UN trying to get together to figure out how to 415 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 1: get their arms around this problem. 416 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 2: In the next few months, we expect the World Health 417 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 2: Organization to release a major evidence review of this issue, 418 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 2: so hopefully bringing together all that we know, and we 419 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 2: have spoken to doctor Mary Prinicki, who is a scientist 420 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 2: at Stanford who worked on that evidence review. She has 421 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 2: said that it's going to make a number of recommendations 422 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 2: globally for countries, so we do know that there is 423 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 2: some action on this. We also know more locally here 424 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 2: that one of the doctors that we interviewed, who has 425 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 2: since been elected to parliamentary office, is going to put 426 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 2: smoke related research high on the agenda. He's now the 427 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 2: Parliamentary Secretary in New South Wales, doctor Michael Hollands. So 428 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 2: there's things happening globally and there is a push here 429 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,199 Speaker 2: locally as well to try and get a bit of 430 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 2: traction on this issue and if anything, helped communities prepare 431 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 2: for the next disaster when it invariably does come. 432 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: Amy Angus, thanks so much for speaking with me today. 433 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: Thank you thanks for listening to us here at The 434 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: Big Take. It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and iHeartRadio. 435 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: For more shows from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 436 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen, and we'd love to hear from you. 437 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: Email us questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 438 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: dot net. The supervising producer of The Big Take is 439 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: Vicky Ergalina. Our senior producer is Catherine Fink. Rebecca Shasson 440 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: is our producer. Our associate producer is Sam Gebauer. Philde 441 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: Garcia is our engineer. Our original music was composed by 442 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: Leo Sidrin, I'm West Kasova. We'll be back on Monday 443 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: with another big take. Have a great weekend.