By Emma Court, Bloomberg
At a church parking lot near Los Angeles, two hazmat-suit-clad workers vacuumed and wiped most of the contents of Elle Schneider’s house. Surrounded by stacked plastic bins of books and clothes, they opened up the drawers of a squat wooden dresser and swabbed the outside of a tall white cabinet.
Elle Schneider (Alex Welsh/Bloomberg)
The blaze that ravaged the LA suburb of Altadena in January stopped some 50 feet short of the freelance cinematographer’s home, but its plumes filtered through doors and windows, leaving behind lead and other hazardous substances.
“It’s embarrassing and it’s dehumanizing to have to do this in front of the entire neighborhood,” said Schneider, who relied on the makeshift remediation center at the church to clean many of her belongings. “It’s bad enough to have to throw out so much of your stuff.”
Months after the smoke from California’s destructive fires cleared from LA skies, residents are still reckoning with a toxic stew of smoke pollutants whose effects on human health are poorly understood. Without federal and local standards on how to deal with contaminants like arsenic and the carcinogen benzene, dozens of researchers and private specialists are combing through yards and homes, work that goes beyond authorities’ post-fire testing.
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“‘What are we facing? What are we exposed to? Is it safe?’ We hear these questions all the time,” said Yifang Zhu, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles’s public health school who’s been measuring pollution related to the fires since early this year. “This knowledge and new insights will be very helpful for the future.”
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It’s an unprecedented research effort that’s unfolding in real time and made more challenging by pre-existing environmental contamination — some of the contaminants might have come from sources other than the fire. But it’s a pressing task as wildfires increasingly spill into communities, fueled by hotter and drier conditions induced by climate change.
Unlike fires in wilderness areas, which mostly consume vegetation, this breed of urban conflagration sucks up buildings, cars and their contents, spitting hazards well beyond the burn area. Some experts say the risks for those exposed could be akin to those of 9/11 and other events that spewed toxic smoke and dust into the environment, though research into this is still in early stages.
The work is also addressing gaps in the government’s response to fires like this one.
California’s insurance commissioner created a task force earlier this year to come up with best practices for smoke claims, but the group doesn’t expect to issue recommendations until early next year.
“In the absence of established standards, site-specific smoke damage remediation will need to be guided by the professional judgment of qualified experts,” a LA County Department of Public Health spokesperson said in a statement.
A slew of tests
Zhu, left, and a postdoctoral researcher collect pillows at a home in the Pacific Palisades. Photographer: (Alex Welsh/Bloomberg)
Inside a burn zone in the affluent Pacific Palisades area, Zhu and two of her postdoctoral researchers scanned the well-kept family room of one of the still-standing homes, on the hunt for invisible pollution fire smoke might have left behind.
They considered a dark knit blanket perched on the couch, before nixing it — too big — and plucked a set of navy and gray throw pillows instead. With gloved hands, they sealed them in white plastic trash bags. Back at UCLA, Zhu’s team tested them for traces of around 30 volatile organic compounds, which compromise air quality and pose health risks such as respiratory issues and cancer.
So-called wildland-urban interface fires, which can unleash dangerous substances into residential areas, now make up a larger share of all fires. Lingering pollutants in still-standing homes can pose similar risks to active wildfire smoke as people kick up and inhale fine particles that settle on the ground or inside homes.
After a wildfire the size of the ones in LA or Lahaina, Hawaii, the federal government usually removes hazardous materials, debris and up to several inches of soil from burned areas. But it has traditionally worked in places damaged by flames, not smoke.
“Most government post-fire efforts focus on visible debris removal,” said Zhu. “They rarely enter homes to measure indoor VOCs or particulates.”
The US Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency referred Bloomberg News to federal cleanup guidance for homes affected by fire-related ash, soot and smoke, which calls for homeowners to mist with water before sweeping and to use a special HEPA-style vacuum that captures tiny particles.
LA County’s public health department has warned about the risks from lead and other heavy metals, asbestos and hazardous chemicals to those living near burned areas. But its testing efforts today are mainly limited to lead in soil with funding from a pre-existing lead paint mitigation program.
“Local public health has no funds, to be frankly honest,” said Nichole Quick, chief medical advisor to Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “It’s the property owner that has to take that on.”
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While the lead levels in soil officials have found are worrisome, independent researchers say there’s a lot more to be concerned about. Data from private homeowner tests compiled by Eaton Fire Residents United, a nonprofit advocating for locals, showed that nearly 20% of 129 homes that screened for it had asbestos, a once common building material known to cause cancer.
The testing also detected other hazardous heavy metals, including nickel, which is toxic in powder form, and arsenic.
Some have been particularly alarmed by the presence of beryllium, a carcinogen that isn’t commonly tested for after wildfires. The metal could have come from computers’ copper wiring or the aluminum in burned cars. While contaminants are generally thought to be more dangerous at higher doses, even exposure to very small amounts of beryllium can lead to disease.
Researchers say it’s hard to determine the risks these chemicals pose to residents because this kind of wildfire-related pollution in homes hasn’t been well studied.
“We really don’t know long-term effects,” said John Balmes, a physician at University of California at San Francisco and UC Berkeley emeritus professor.
Although the federal government has estimates of acceptable daily exposures to the hazardous substances detected in Los Angeles-area houses, the projections have limitations in how they can be applied for wildfire contamination, experts say. The EPA and LA County’s public health department said there are currently no guidelines for gauging the risk of these chemicals when they come from wildfire smoke.
There’s also confusion around the testing itself, with procedures varying widely, experts say. One common test is better known for detecting hazardous materials in landfill-bound waste rather than ash that settles on a floor or windowsill.
California environmental officials released guidance for soil testing in late August, but aren’t working on protocols for smoke pollution in standing homes.
In the meantime, Zhu, the UCLA scientist, hopes her research can help guide homeowners. Her tests inside homes go beyond those typically conducted by officials and industrial hygienists, screening for toxic compounds like ethylbenzene, a possible carcinogen, and toluene and xylenes, which can affect the nervous system.
It’s complicated science — like lead, VOCs might have predated the fires as they are found in common household products. Still, Zhu found acetic acid, a compound of wildfire smoke, in most items that her team has tested so far, indicating that they were affected by fire-related chemicals.
In the Pacific Palisades home, the navy and gray throw pillows Zhu sampled had particularly high levels of toluene, which can be produced during combustion.
The homeowners still haven’t returned.
Homeowner decisions