After months of questions the day after Eaton and Palisades fires, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department finally shared Preliminary results Soil tests in and around burning areas. The data accessible to the public is still somewhat vague – but it shows lead levels on the wind of the wind of fire Eaton, as well as “hot spots” isolated in contamination in the palisades.
The results were revealed during a Virtual community meeting Thursday evening and offer the first overview of the lasting fallout from the January devastating fire storm.
Roux Associates, a private test company hired by the county, collected samples of 780 properties in the two burning areas in four weeks from mid-February to mid-March. He analyzed these samples for 14 toxic substances commonly found in the wake of forest fires, including heavy metals such as arsenic and lead; polyaromatic hydrocarbons such as anthorane and napthal; and dioxins.
The first batch of results – the county said that more data was to come – focused on the intact properties that were standing after the fire, and found that 80% of the soil samples perceived in the wind of the burning scar Eaton had levels above the standard of health of the state of 80 milligrams of lead per kilogram of soil. The results of land plots with damaged and destroyed properties are still pending.
The conclusions around lead are “really where we saw something that was distinguished,” said Adam Love, vice-president and main scientist of Roux. “We have seen much higher percentages of exceeding screening levels in areas that were immediately in the wind of the place where the main houses burned in the fire Eaton.”
About 36% of plots in the Eaton burning scar have exceeded the state limit for lead, depending on the results. Much more, 47%, exceeded it in areas just beyond this border. In the area southwest of Eaton Fire Zone, between 70% and 80% have exceeded lead levels.
The results revealed on Thursday did not include specific values or results in terms of parcels for still intact houses, but they showed the share of the properties tested in the area which exceeded the California health limit for lead and other chemicals. Practically all the plots tested were houses, although some of the people tested outside the burn area are public spaces, Love said.
LOVE noted that it is typical that urban areas have higher lead levels than the global limit of the state – in particular places near the highways where cars burned lead pet. In addition, Altadena housed a large number of buildings which probably contained lead paint, with a Caltech report indicating that more than 90% of the houses in the region were built before 1975, three years before the ban on painting.
But the high number of properties on which lead has been detected at levels exceeding health standards suggests that painting several decades may not fully explain toxicity, said Love. At least part of this is likely to come from fire and smoke.
Lead is a heavy metal linked to serious health problems, including damage to the brain and the nervous system, as well as digestive, reproductive and cardiovascular problems, according to the Environmental protection agency. Children, the elderly and the speakers are particularly sensitive to the chemical.
Overcoming screening thresholds does not automatically mean cleaning is necessary, but rather than an additional assessment should be taken into account, said county officials.
On the other side of the county, the burn area of the palisades fires generally behaved better because there was no proof of generalized contamination, officials said.
However, the Palisades tests revealed what love called “hot spots” isolated from heavy metals and polyomatic hydrocarbons.
Among these heavy metals, there was arsenic, a known carcinogen. The worst results were found on the properties just outside the fire limit, where almost 26% of the plots showed arsenic levels above 12 milligrams per kilogram, the “background level” established by red and on the basis of a high -end estimate of what naturally happens in the soil of southern California.
“While with Eaton, the arsenic was distributed uniformly, in palisades, we see a kind of hot spot in the section … northeast of the Palisades region,” said Love.
The source of contaminants in these areas was not immediately clear, as they do not comply with the plumes of smoked fire, he said.
Nichole Quick, chief medical advisor to the Los Angeles County Department of County, said the officials ask the federal and state partners to help more assess the hot spots of palisades and coordinate with the county to explore the more targeted lead test options in the eaton fire areas.
All this follows Time reports That federal officials have chosen to break in their tradition of almost two decades to test the soil on destroyed properties that have been cleaned by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The body of the army in the past would first scratch 6 inches of topsoil, then test the soil below; If these tests revealed toxins always on the property, it would scratch more.
Indeed, in the past, such tests have proven to be essential. After the devastating fire of the camp in paradise in 2018, the soil tests of 12,500 properties revealed that almost a third still contained dangerous levels of contaminants even after the first 6 inches of topsoil were scratched by federal crews.
The crews had to return to some of these properties up to five times to eliminate more soil before being deemed safe and clear.
In this case, however, the agency which generally oversees this work – the Federal Emergency Management Agency – Rather said to remove 6 inches without moresTing will be sufficientQuoting at different times, efficiency and policy changes as a justification.
The county of the Roux tests instead of these federal tests. So far, the county has not announced the results only standing houses, which are not eligible for cleaning the body of army engineers.
The results of the soil tests from scraped properties are still pending, said Love. A final report and an analysis will be available in May.
Many residents and civil servants have been frustrated by the FEMA's decision to refrain from testing fires, with the director of emergency services of the state Nancy Ward Call the Federal Agency to reconsider.
“Without adequate tests, contaminants caused by fire can remain unteashed, pose risks to return residents, construction workers and the environment,” Ward wrote in a February letter to the agency. “The fact of not identifying and correcting these fire -related contaminants can expose individuals to residual substances during the reconstruction of efforts and potentially compromise the quality of groundwater and surface water.”
Los Angeles officials said that residents concerned about their specific properties might want to consult environmental professionals for evaluation.
“In all regions with current fire debris, residents are reminded of not inhaling, ingesting or contacting ashes, soot and / or fire debris using appropriate personal protective equipment,” wrote the Ministry of Public Health in a Summary report of his conclusions. “In addition, community members are encouraged to examine the results of soil sampling and to consider taking appropriate precautions if your house is in one of the areas where the screening thresholds of soil samples have been exceeded.”
The Comté also offers free lead blood test for anyone affected by fires and concerned about exposure.
