The toll of wildfires is usually counted in acres burnt, property destroyed and lives lost to smoke and flames. But three studies published Wednesday suggest the cost to human health from the Maui and Los Angeles wildfires was substantially higher.

Wildfires that tore through Los Angeles early this year may have caused hundreds more deaths than official reports show, new research suggests. While the fires were said to have taken 31 lives, a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that about 440 more deaths may be linked to the disaster.