Highlighting gaps in knowledge and capabilities that limit decision-making to protect the health of outdoor workers exposed to wildfire smoke.

Pollutants in smoke from wildland and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires present an increasing risk to outdoor workers, field technicians, and others as the frequency and severity of these fires increase due to expansion of the WUI, changing land management practices, and climate change. Recent advancements have improved our understanding and ability to track and model wildfires, smoke plume chemistry, and associated health impacts. There are indications that smoke from burning certain fuels, including artificial materials present in many WUI fires and other biomass burned under certain conditions, may present enhanced health risks relative to smoke from typical biomass-only fires. However, large uncertainties, data gaps, and a lack of integration of available tools and datasets present substantial challenges in making recommendations and developing guidance to protect outdoor workers. Notwithstanding these uncertainties and data gaps, outdoor workers are exposed to potentially harmful wildfire pollutants with limited health protection guidance. There is a pressing need to advance the understanding of the relative risk of wildfire smoke based on the burned fuel and to provide tools to support real-time decision-making to protect the health of outdoor workers. Therefore, researchers and health professionals need to fill data gaps and develop integrated tools to provide decision-makers with clear guidance. This new guidance should be action-oriented, reflect current knowledge, and highlight remaining uncertainties. With these resources, decision makers can better strategize when and where outdoor work needs to be done to best protect those doing the work.