EPA budget cuts may weaken wildfire smoke protections as air pollution worsens

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed budget cuts and restructuring could reduce air monitoring capacity and delay public health responses to increasingly toxic wildfire smoke across the U.S.

Izzy Ross and Matt Simon report for Grist.

In short:

• The Trump administration plans to halve the EPA’s budget and eliminate thousands of positions, threatening the agency’s ability to monitor and respond to air pollution from wildfire smoke.
• Wildfire smoke contains PM 2.5 and can chemically transform into more harmful substances like ozone; in some areas, it may carry heavy metals like arsenic from contaminated soils.
• Federal monitors have played a crucial role in air quality forecasting; scientists warn that private and community sensors lack the precision to fully assess health risks without EPA infrastructure.

Key quote:

“In order to be able to better test these hypotheses, we need these federally funded monitors and networks and data. This is critical. Without that, it would be impossible to do this type of research and better understand what is going on.”

— Tarik Benmarhnia, professor of environmental epidemiology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Why this matters:

Wildfire smoke is becoming a primary source of air pollution across North America, and its reach extends far beyond burn zones. Fine particles in smoke, especially PM 2.5, can lodge deep in the lungs and bloodstream, aggravating asthma, heart disease, and other health conditions. With more fires ignited by climate-fueled heat and drought, even historically clean-air regions are facing hazardous smoke days. The data gathered by federal air quality monitors is essential for real-time alerts, long-term research, and regulatory action. Cutting these systems weakens national capacity to track pollution spikes, protect vulnerable communities, and prepare for a smoke-heavy future that increasingly threatens public health.

Read more: Climate-driven wildfires may be fueling the spread of respiratory disease in the U.S. West