Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37253010›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2023

Global biomass fires and infant mortality.

Hemant K Pullabhotla, Mustafa Zahid, Sam Heft-Neal, Vaibhav Rathi, Marshall Burke

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Reply to Giglio and Roy: Aggregate infant mortality estimates robust to choice of burned area product.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  7. FireCCILT11 artifacts may confound the link between biomass burning and infant mortality.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  8. Drought impacts on the electricity system, emissions, and air quality in the western United States.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  9. Global biomass fires and infant mortality.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Hemant K PullabhotlaCenter on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.ORCID 0000-0002-2588-0273
Mustafa ZahidCenter on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.ORCID 0000-0003-1279-025X
Sam Heft-NealCenter on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.ORCID 0000-0002-9129-2365
Vaibhav RathiDepartment of Economics, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden.
Marshall BurkeCenter on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.ORCID 0000-0003-4288-5858

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Global outdoor biomass burning is a major contributor to air pollution, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Recent years have witnessed substantial changes in the extent of biomass burning, including large declines in Africa. However, direct evidence of the contribution of biomass burning to global health outcomes remains limited. Here, we use georeferenced data on more than 2 million births matched to satellite-derived burned area exposure to estimate the burden of biomass fires on infant mortality. We find that each additional square kilometer of burning is associated with nearly 2% higher infant mortality in nearby downwind locations. The share of infant deaths attributable to biomass fires has increased over time due to the rapid decline in other important causes of infant death. Applying our model estimates across harmonized district-level data covering 98% of global infant deaths, we find that exposure to outdoor biomass burning was associated with nearly 130,000 additional infant deaths per year globally over our 2004 to 2018 study period. Despite the observed decline in biomass burning in Africa, nearly 75% of global infant deaths due to burning still occur in Africa. While fully eliminating biomass burning is unlikely, we estimate that even achievable reductions-equivalent to the lowest observed annual burning in each location during our study period-could have avoided more than 70,000 infant deaths per year globally since 2004.

Indexed as

Air PollutantsAir PollutionFiresBiomassHumansInfantInfant DeathInfant MortalityMortalityAir Pollutantsair pollutionbiomass firesinfant mortality

Identifiers

PMID37253010
PMCPMC10266003

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.