Rachel Wald always has a little cold. When you have two kids under 5, that’s life, she says. You’re always feeling a little unwell. But it wasn’t until after Waldo and her family voluntarily evacuated from the Los Angeles wildfires that she realized her cough, sore throat and itchy eyes were worsened by the fires ravaging the city. Ta. “I don’t think I really realized that it wasn’t because of the cold, it was because of the smoke,” she says.
Wald, director of the Center for Health and Environment at the University of Southern California, is one of the lucky ones. Her neighborhood in central Los Angeles was not directly threatened. Her home is intact. Her children, husband and all their possessions are safe. Nevertheless, Waldo, like millions of other Angelenos, cannot escape the health effects of the fires. Experts expect these effects to be long-lasting.
Deaths caused by wind-driven fires that ravage large areas of Los Angeles at least 25 peopleApproximately 12,000 homes, schools, and other structures have burned since January 7, and more than 40,000 acres have been burned. In the aftermath of such disasters, the focus is understandably on treating the injured, commemorating the dead, and beginning the long recovery process. But over time, attention shifts to the health effects that can be felt for days, weeks, and even years after the danger has passed.
Wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems, especially in the West, and typically occur where forests or wilderness meet communities. It’s very rare to see them invade American cities, but that’s exactly what happened in the country’s second largest metropolis.
as state and federal agencies; Assess the damageresearchers say the health effects of wildfires need to be tallied with similar care.
“This fire is different from previous unquote ‘wildfires’ because there are so many structures that have burned,” said Yifan Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. Ta. “Everything in the house was burnt, including cars, metal pipes, and plastic.”
Wildfire smoke is toxic. When trees and shrubs burn, they produce very fine particulate matter. PM2.5It can burrow deep into the lungs and infiltrate the bloodstream, causing short-term cold and flu-like symptoms and, over time, heart disease, lung cancer, and other chronic problems.
But the fires that swept through Los Angeles consumed thousands of people. houses, schools, historical buildingseven clinicthick smoke covered the city. In the days after the first fire, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeded 100This is a threshold commonly seen during wildfires, above which the air becomes unhealthy for children, the elderly, and people with asthma to breathe. In some areas of the city, the AQI reached 500. This number is rarely seen and is always dangerous for everyone.
At this point, air pollution experts know just how much smoke is in the air. it is improvement is seen Recently. But they don’t know what’s inside. “What is the chemical mixture in this smoke?” asked Kai Chen, an environmental scientist at the Yale School of Public Health. “In addition to particulate matter, other harmful and carcinogenic organic compounds may be present, including gaseous pollutants, trace metals, and microplastics.”
Previous research has shown that the spike in unhealthy air quality seen during such events High hospitalization rate It can cause problems such as asthma and even cause heart attacks in people with that chronic disease. A 2024 study on the long-term effects of smoke exposure in California found that particulate matter from wildfires in the state from 2008 to 2018 contributed to either: was shown. 52,000-56,000 premature deaths. a health check Among the 148 firefighters who worked on the Tubbs Fire, which burned more than 36,000 acres and destroyed an unusual number of structures in Northern California in 2017, they found elevated levels. PFAS Their blood and urine have been known to forever contain chemicals, heavy metals, and flame retardants.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officially urged people to stay indoors Wear a mask to protect yourself from toxic dust and ash blown by the wind. air quality measurement Do not consider these particleswhich means that the air quality index does not reveal the extent of pollutants in the air.
Zhu and her colleagues have been collecting samples of wildfire smoke near the fire site. Although it will take several months for the data to be fully analysed, Chu said the materials used in many buildings built before the 1970s are free from hazardous chemicals that can include asbestos and lead. I doubt that a mixture will be found.
Even after the smoke clears, the risks remain. Plumes wafting over the landscape deposit chemicals in drinking water supplies and contaminate the soil. Fernando Rosario Ortiz, an environmental engineer and interim dean of the University of Colorado Boulder Environmental Engineering Program, said that when it rains, harmful ash will be washed into rivers and land. “There are a lot of man-made materials that are being burned right now. There is potential for contamination,” he said, adding that research into how toxic ash and other byproducts of wildfires exist in urban areas is currently underway. He pointed out that this was hardly done. “We don’t have a lot of information about what’s going on right now.”
After the Camp Fire destroyed Paradise, Calif., in 2018, water utilities High levels of volatile organic compounds found in drinking water. Similar problems are occurring in places like Boulder County, Colorado, where the Marshall Fire destroyed nearly 1,000 structures in 2021, but the presence of contaminants in homes does not mean That doesn’t necessarily mean high levels are present indoors, Rosario-Ortiz said. water. Still, some city water departments in Los Angeles Prevention advisory urging residents not to drink tap water in areas near the Palisades and Eaton fires. It will be several weeks before we know exactly what’s in the water.
As wildfires become more intense and encroach on urban areas, cities and counties must monitor health impacts and be prepared to respond. “This is the first time I’ve seen or heard anything like this,” said Zhu, who raised her daughter in Los Angeles and has lived there for decades. “As we study wildfires and their effects on air quality on the ground, we never imagined that an entire neighborhood, an entire community, in the Palisades would be burned to the ground.”
Walt is back. She still has a bad cough, but her other symptoms are starting to subside as the smoke clears in her neighborhood. The fire scared her, but she has no long-term plans for moving forward. “I wouldn’t say that where I am, but I’m that worried,” she said. “But I mean, it’s not great.”
