Toni Boucher vomited the first time she saw the charred remains of her home and neighborhood following this month’s deadly fires in the Los Angeles area. Now he’s wondering if it’s worth going back through the ashes and trying to find his grandmother’s wedding ring.
He’s worried not just about the trauma of seeing the destruction in Altadena, where Boucher, 70, has lived for decades. He is also concerned about possible health risks.
“They talk about asbestos, lead and all the things that have burned in the loss of the houses and the danger that entails,” Boucher said.
Experts warn that The flames triggered complex chemical reactions in paint, furniture, building materials, cars, electronics and other belongings, turning ordinary objects into potentially toxic ashes that require protective equipment to handle safely. The ashes may contain lead, asbestos or arsenic, as well as new synthetic materials.
“Ash is not just ash. You have to remember the garage or what is in your house. What is your furniture made of? What are your appliances made of? “What is your house made of?” asks Scott McLean, former deputy chief of the communications office for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “Many of them are petroleum products and different compounds that pose an extreme risk of fire when they burn.”
That’s especially a problem when people start digging through the fire damage. Studies show that people involved in recovery in ash-affected areas could face health risks from breathing in what’s there.
Even harmless chemicals typically found in household materials – such as titanium dioxide in paint or copper in pipes – can form more reactive compounds after a fire, according to Mohammed Baalousha, professor of environmental health sciences at the University of South Carolina, which studies ash samples to better understand what materials are present and how they change after wildfires.
Scientists are still trying to understand exactly what effects those chemical changes have on human health, not only in California, but also in places like Maui and other areas affected by wildfires.
Maui residents stayed away from contaminated areas for nearly two months, but remain concerned about long-term health effects. In California, authorities are not allowing residents to return to many places, likely for at least a week, while utilities are restored, security operations are conducted and people are searched, according to the county’s recovery website. from Los Angeles.
Some chemicals are linked to cardiovascular disease and reduced lung function. Other adverse health effects could result from inhalation of more mobile and toxic forms of arsenic, chromium and benzene. Exposure to magnetite, which can form when fire burns iron, has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, for example.
“It could take a long time to determine all the possible health effects of these particles,” due to the complexity of the chemical reactions and the number of substances that remain to be studied, says Baalousha.
Researchers point to the variety of health problems potentially linked to dust from the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“I’ve always remembered all the people who ran into the World Trade Center on 9/11, and they weren’t really there that long in terms of total exposure,” said Jackson Webster, who studies the aftermath of the fires as professor of civil engineering at California State University, Chico. “But cases of all kinds of diseases and illnesses have increased.”
Baalousha added that scientists are also concerned about where all the waste will go. Some potentially hazardous materials could end up in drinking water or even flow into the ocean, negatively affecting marine life. It’s something Hawaii experts are studying after last year’s deadly Maui fire.
As investigators continue their work, people returning to their homes in California must put their safety first, he said.
“We know that there are many emotions and feelings that can make us let our guard down, but we don’t have to do it,” says Baalousha. “You just have to be sure. Be careful. Put on all the gear you can – at least an N95 mask, gloves – and stay safe. Because you have lost your property. But you don’t want to affect your long-term health.”
