Toxin “Erine Brocovich” is notorious for several months after Los Angeles fires

Forest fires in January have left several scars in Los Angeles, from homes that were reduced in the rubble to abandoned vehicles. Although the cleaning sets quickly cleared a lot of debris, one of the invisible effects remained on the city for several months, as a new study indicates.

In late March-more than two months after the death of the fire-the researchers discovered levels of cancer-causing chrome (also known as chromium-6) more than 200 times from the levels of the essential line. If this poll is familiar, you may think about the 2000 movie Irene BrocovichA play for a real story about the pollution of the hexa chrome water. Although the levels discovered by researchers have decreased below some safety thresholds, the small size of the molecules raises concerns immediately.

The study is currently available on Preprint server Research fieldThe lead author Michael Cleem, an environmental engineer at the University of California Davis, said in an e -mail, which was reviewed by the Los Angeles Union of Los Angeles, said the main author Michael Cleem, an environmental engineer at the University of California Davis, said in an email. Although he has not yet passed through the review of official theorizers, he and his colleagues chose to launch the results to alert politicians and the public to this pollutor, who is likely to be dangerous as soon as possible.

In a statement to Science MagazineThe air quality management area in the southern coast confirmed that taking study samples was limited and that its data did not indicate an immediate health risk of hexa chrome.

The fire activates the chrome toxic

Chrome is a natural heavy metal It is happening In soil, plants and rocks, but also present In some building materials, including stainless steel, chrome paint, pigments, and cement. In its common form, Chromium III is a fundamental nutrient that helps the body to break fats and carbohydrates.

When oxidized, the chrome III becomes a hexagonal chrome. Some levels of exposure to this pollute may increase the risk of lung, nose and sinus cancer, according to L. Occupational Safety and Health Department. His search He appears This fire can push the chrome oxidation III, and the study of 2023 Find The hexagonal chrome can be present in the smoke of wildfire and ash.

Thus, Cleman and his colleagues are expected to find a random hexagon Chrome when they took air samples from debris cleaning areas around Etone and Palisades. Discover concentrations ranging from 8.1 ng to 21.6 ng per cubic meter in the most affected neighborhoods of fires: Altadena and Pacific Palisades. This is much lower than the National Institute for Occupational Safety and reduce exposure to the workplace in health of 200 ng per cubic meter of air, but above the internal limit of the Environmental Protection Agency of 0.1 ng per cubic meter.

What they did not expect is the size of the particles. “It is really surprising to find all the hexagonal vineyards in the debris cleaning areas of La Fire, the center in molecules smaller than 56 nm.”

Smaller molecules, greater danger

The main pollutant of anxiety in the wild smoke is PM2.5 – serious molecules that exceed 2.5 ومر m. Their size allows them to present themselves deeply inside the lungs, causing tissue damage and infections. Hexavalent Chromium Kleman and its discoverers are smaller.

“Small nanoparticles of 50 nm can cross cell membranes, which means that they can deepen in our bodies from large particles,” clearer. “The nanoparticles can rotate in our blood and reach all our main organs.” However, the health risks specified by the hexagonal nanoparticles particles are still unconfirmed. “The current results call for caution, but not panic,” Clem said.

He plans to return to Altadena and Palisades to determine whether the air -mobile chrome levels have returned to normal and identify potential sources and hot points. Understanding this newly achieved threat is more important than ever with global temperatures.

“California is in a new fact, as climate change pushes forest fires to the main urban areas,” Kelman said. “We all need to work together to adapt to this new reality.”