Journal article
Assessing the impact of 2023 wildfire smoke on ozone and public health in Chicago communities
Atmospheric environment (1994), Vol.368, 121773
03/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.121773
Abstract
Wildfire smoke is an increasingly important contributor to urban air pollution and public health risk, especially in ozone (O3) non-attainment areas like Chicago. This study assessed the impact of the 2023 wildfire smoke on ground-level O3 concentrations and associated mortality across Chicago's 77 community areas. We integrated NOAA's Hazard Mapping System smoke classifications, high-resolution downscaled O3 data, and GridMET meteorological data to construct a daily community-level dataset for 2014–2023. We estimated counterfactual O3 levels in the absence of wildfire smoke using matching, linear regression, and machine learning models. We separated the effect of smoke on O3 from those caused by meteorological variability. O3 concentrations increased with smoke density, peaking under medium smoke conditions, while the largest smoke-attributable increase (6.7 ppb) occurred under heavy smoke. Estimated daily all-cause mortality rates attributable to smoke-enhanced O3 followed a similar trend, reaching 0.24 deaths per 100,000 population per day under heavy smoke. Spatial analysis revealed that central, western, and southeastern communities experienced the greatest exposure and health burden, suggesting non-linear interactions between transported smoke and local pollution. These findings highlight how wildfire smoke exacerbates challenges in meeting National Ambient Air Quality Standards and protecting public health in urban environments.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Assessing the impact of 2023 wildfire smoke on ozone and public health in Chicago communities
- Creators
- Ping Jing - Loyola University ChicagoWeizhi Deng - University of IowaThomas Crabtree - Loyola University ChicagoDeborah Chen - Loyola University ChicagoJustin Harbison - Loyola University ChicagoMena Whalen - Loyola University ChicagoJun Wang - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Atmospheric environment (1994), Vol.368, 121773
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.121773
- ISSN
- 1352-2310
- eISSN
- 1873-2844
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2026
- Academic Unit
- Electrical and Computer Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Physics and Astronomy; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9985116912602771
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