IMPAERO - An interdisciplinary study on the impact of aerosolized particulate matter from aged wildfire plumes on environment and human health

Emissions from wildfires (WF) are major contributors to the global budget of ambient particulate matter (PM) affecting air quality, absorbing and scattering incoming radiation, forming haze and clouds. Due to climate change (CC), WF in many regions become a serious problem. Together with thawing permafrost, the increased incidence of WF, in particular also in Siberia, is becoming a self-reinforcement component of CC. Furthermore, several adverse health effects of WF emissions are discussed, including induction of diseases via inflammatory and gene-toxic pathways. By using the world largest aerosol aging chamber (LAC) in Tomsk (Russia), the expertise to simulate WF, and the aging of the emitted aerosols, it will be possible to collect sufficient mass of fresh and aged PM to study the biological effects of fine particles which also can reveal the physicochemical parameters responsible for the adverse effects. This joint DFG-RFBR-funded project is conducted in collaboration with Moscow State University (Russia), TU Munich and Institute of Atmospheric Optics (Tomsk, Russia) and the Institute of Chemical Kinetics (Novosibirsk, Russia).