L.A.’s Clear Skies Conceal a ‘Toxic Soup’
Posted on: Mar 12, 2025 20:30 IST | Posted by: Nytimes
Scientists collecting irrigate, send and dirt samples in neighborhoods ravaged by fires say they’re concerned about long-term health risks for residents.
Scientists collecting water, air and soil samples in neighborhoods ravaged by fires say they’re concerned about long-term health risks for residents.
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Brendan Borrell rode along with a research team as they collected data from the burn zones of recent fires.
On a Sunday in February, a white Ford van zigzagged through the fire-ravaged neighborhood of Altadena, Calif. Ash piles lined front yards. Charred washing machines sat on bare concrete foundations.
“I can’t imagine coming back to this,” said Albert Kyi, a graduate student researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, briefly looking up from his laptop and out the van’s window.
He and his colleagues, however, were there to help people learn whether it was safe to do just that. A mast poking out from the van’s roof was sending readings on hundreds of compounds in the air to the laptop. This laboratory on wheels was so sensitive, Mr. Kyi said, that it could detect the chemicals produced by someone peeling an orange outside.
The data the team was gathering was part of a newly launched study tracking the health impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires over the next decade. By traversing the 38,000 acres that encompass the two burn zones in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades along with the surrounding region, the researchers hope to fill gaps in the data on air, soil and water quality. Already, they have found cause for concern.
More than 16,000 homes and buildings were destroyed, and another 2,000 were damaged during the recent fires. So far, there is only limited information for the tens of thousands of residents returning home to the affected areas about whether or when it might be safe to grow vegetables in their backyards, swim in their pools or go for a morning run, especially as rebuilding efforts stir up potentially toxic ash.
On weather apps, the Air Quality Index that day indicated that the air above Altadena posed little risk.
The sky was blue, and there was even a cyclist on the streets.
But the van’s readings told a different story.
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