LA Wildfires Exposed People To Dangerous Lead
The LA Wildfires were more dangerous than they first seemed. Science Advances published a research paper titled “Fire at the boundary: Airborne toxic metals from the 2025 Los Angeles urban firestorm.” Over a period that ended 24 hours after the fire, some people were exposed to lead in the air. This affected as many as seven million people. “Unlike wildfire smoke that has been the focus of decades of air quality research, this plume represents an emerging class of urban fire air pollution that demands revised exposure frameworks and emergency response protocols as fires increasingly burn into cities.”
Unexpected Health Danger
The fires, which were actually a number of fires combined, destroyed 9,400 structures and killed 19 people. Some of these fires lasted for much of January. Seventy percent of the entire city of LA was hit by some level of smoke.
Environmental scientists say fires like this are likely to become more frequent. This is for three reasons. Drought, which has plagued the region for decades; heat, which reached over 100 degrees F this year; and high winds, some of which are Santa Ana winds that can reach 70 miles per hour.
Some Homes Won’t Be Rebuilt
While many people will never move back into their homes, and hundreds of homes lack adequate insurance, people who lived in the area have something else to worry about.
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