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The long-term health effects of L.A. County wildfire smoke – Jobsmaa.com

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The explosion of smoke and ash from the two forest fires was beyond belief.

In the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, thick smoke rolled across the horizon, blocking out the sun as the Eaton Fire engulfed homes and businesses.

Forest fires are productive Heavy smoke and smog the region has not seen in recent memory.

On Jan. 8, an air monitor in Chinatown — about 10 miles from the Eaton fire — recorded 483.7 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter. Initial data From the California Air Resources Board. That's the highest hourly air monitor reading allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency in Los Angeles County — matched only by clouds of smoke from 2020 Fourth of July fireworks.

Near the coast, the Palisades Fire thinned through the Santa Monica Mountains and reduced dream homes with Pacific views to their foundations, sending a jet stream of smoke out to sea. As the fire broke out at Pacific Palisades Elementary School, one of the Los Angeles Unified School District's low-cost air monitors registered 1,100 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter — the highest mark since air monitors were installed in 2021.

At these levels, this micro-pollution becomes hazardous. Although the extent of the effects of this type of pollution is still unclear, studies have shown that it is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and serious lung damage.

After these natural disasters, there are a limited number of deaths and hospitalizations tied to wildfire smoke for months – if not years. Fire-related hospital visits across Los Angeles County increased 16-fold during the region's recent wildfires, according to the county's Department of Public Health. At its peak, on January 8, at least 81 people went to hospitals for burns or smoke exposure.

Children are especially vulnerable, experts say, because their still-developing lungs have to breathe more and are therefore more exposed to any amount of pollution. In 2018, within two weeks of a Northern California campfire — the deadliest in the state's recorded history — 76% of children with asthma suffered an asthma attack or flare-up. Asthma-related emergency room visits in the region increased 27% during that time A study by Stanford University and data firm Comodo Health.

Latino children with asthma were most severely affected; Among certain populations, there was a 95% increase in assaults and outbreaks. Asian and black children also saw significantly higher increases in attacks compared to white children's rates of asthma attacks.

Mark Carmichael, now a medical student at Stanford University, says similar differences may emerge after the LA County wildfires. The severe pollution caused by the Eaton fire in Chinatown, Boyle Heights, Compton, and Long Beach—historically disadvantaged communities, Latino, Asian, and black—have already suffered the worst long-term exposure to industrial pollution in the region.

“Air quality standards are not going to do anything for these events,” Carmichael said. “Because these are severe events, you need to have prevention strategies in place for people who you already know are more vulnerable to adverse outcomes.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 25 confirmed deaths from the latest LA County wildfire. But researchers suspect that successive smoke waves may contribute to much more.

Already, it may be responsible for five deaths in LA County An online tool It estimates county-level deaths from wildfire smoke. An experimental model analyzing federal air quality data and satellite images was developed by Cornell University researchers that they hope will help them better understand how smog affects public health.

“It's especially difficult to learn about death,” said Alistair Hayden, a Cornell assistant professor and former division chief for emergency services in the California governor's office. “We know it exists [potentially fatal] effects, but it doesn't show up on people's death certificates.

“What people are really interested in when we look at this is, is this a nuisance smoke wave or is this considered a real disaster?”

Other groups are also trying to answer this question. For example, NASA uses its satellites to assess air pollution, both chronically and during extreme events like what happened in LA County. In addition to smoke and fumes, the space agency detected large amounts of harmful gases emitted from wildfires, including lung irritants. Nitrogen dioxide and can cause cancer Formaldehyde.

“My gut feeling is that it's comparable to other fires from looking at the numbers that I've seen,” said NASA air quality specialist Laura Judd of the emissions that have plagued L.A. County over the past several days. “The only difference is the footprint — the density of people that are there. It affects millions of people in the region.

Some good news: Although the smoke peaked, it was short-lived. Experts say smoke from other long-running wildfires lingers longer and may have led to more premature deaths than they expected in this case. Wildfire smoke thinned into a haze across Los Angeles County over the weekend, and starting Monday, strong winds helped clear the remaining smoke.

But that doesn't mean LA County residents are in the clear. Now, air quality concerns are shifting from smoke to ash. According to experts, tons of wildfire ash and debris, including countless toxic chemicals from blaze-ravaged homes and cars, blanketed several blocks across the county. Contaminants in burns can pose a threat for years.

Since Sunday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued dust advisories, warning that wildfire ash may have been blown by strong winds. It inspires people in LA County and neighboring areas Keep windows closed and always wear N95 masks Out to protect themselves.

Although recent air quality index readings appear safe, officials warn that some wildfire ash is too large to be detected by their instruments and not captured by air monitors.

While it's unclear whether long-term pollution from wildfires will occur, NASA scientists use sensors mounted on aircraft to assess fire damage and detect toxic substances in burn scars. A similar tool was used to assess the World Trade Center disaster site after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I hope to use data like the one we bought [these sensors] “To understand toxicity in this environment and how it changes as ash is redistributed through air and water flows,” said Michael Balkowski, NASA's terrestrial ecologist.

NASA's findings could inform what is expected to be years of cleanup and recovery.

“We know from other fires, like the Marshall fire in Colorado, that these environments are toxic for a long time post-fire,” Falkowski said. “But we still have a lot to learn.”

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