Los Angeles Wildfire Air Quality Threatens
Los Angeles, a city famous for its sunny skies and vibrant culture, is no stranger to the devastating impact of wildfires. As the frequency and intensity of these fires increase, so too does the threat they pose to public health, particularly when it comes to air quality. With the state of California experiencing increasingly severe wildfire seasons, residents in and around Los Angeles are grappling with the immediate dangers posed by smoke-filled air and long-term health risks.
Wildfire Smoke and the Invisible Threat to Food:
Wildfires, like the ones burning in the Los Angeles Area, can make food in homes dangerous to consume, the USDA cautions. Additionally, even homes that are relatively far from the fire’s location may be at risk because flames can release smoke plumes that can extend up to 14 miles (23 kilometers) into the stratosphere, affecting households hundreds of miles away.
The Scale of the Los Angeles Wildfires:
On Tuesday, January 7, wildfires broke out in Los Angeles, burning tens of thousands of acres and becoming some of the most devastating in California history. They were fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and parched vegetation after a protracted drought. Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County compared the destruction to the aftermath of an atomic bomb.
Food poisoning occurs from the consumption of food or drinks contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Smoke fumes, extreme heat, fire-fighting, and other chemicals can introduce these hazardous contaminants, affecting homes thousands of miles away from the flames.
“Wildfires mostly affect the west coast and northern states in the United States,” says Mark Davidson, Manager of Marketing and Technical Materials at Camfil, a global provider of indoor air filtration solutions and clean air systems. “But the smoke can travel hundreds of miles on the wind.”
Wildfire smoke is more harmful than normal air pollutants; it contains harmful gases and particulate matter produced by not just burning vegetation but synthetic materials such as plastics, rubber, and treated asphalt in buildings, cars, and homes. For instance, fine particulate matter has recently spiked to dangerous levels of 40-100 micrograms per cubic meter, which is between 8 and 20 times the maximum recommended levels put by the World Health Organization.
The danger lies in the wildfire smoke itself. According to Camfil, more than 90% of the mass of wildfire smoke consists of PM2.5 particles— ultra-fine pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns.
Residents miles away could be harmed by these particles since they can travel great distances on air currents. They can get inside screw-cap containers, cardboard cartons, and plastic wrap, among other typical food packaging materials. Food that has been tainted cannot be cleaned, which puts human health at risk.
The advice of Los Angeles department:
Ash-covered plastic water bottles should be thrown away, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, since the particles might contaminate the caps. As for sealed glass or metal jars, they can be cleaned and utilized, but food exposed to ash and not kept in airtight or waterproof containers should also be thrown out.
Additionally, toxic chemicals released by wildfires, like nitrogen oxides and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), can enter buildings through HVAC systems without proper filtering and then build up as particles on food surfaces and foods.
Camfil advises that household risks from wildfire smoke can be mitigated by utilizing “a combination of carbon filtration to control odor and gaseous contaminants and high-efficiency air filters on PM2.5 particles.”
Because of their closeness to densely populated places, the Los Angeles wildfires have destroyed thousands of structures. Fire-fighting and other chemicals from combusted things, among them building chemicals and plastics, can find their way into both food and cookware, leaving toxins that cannot be washed away.
Some chemicals adhere to particle matter, while others evaporate and become gasses as a result of fires.The intense heat and the process of combustion could break down existing chemicals into new, potentially dangerous compounds.
Between 2009 and 2021, an estimated 380,000 kg of toxic metals were released into the environment in the United States through fire retardants such as Phos-Chek, which was deployed for putting out the wildfires in Los Angeles.
The Role of Firefighting Chemicals and Heat:
Wildfires also result from the contamination with firefighting chemicals, which in turn are brought about by chemical substances such as Phos-Chek. They release toxic metals into the air, posing food and cookware risks. It is also due to the immense heat of these fires that often compromises the cans and jars, allowing the growth of harmful bacteria and pathogens in foods. Heat, in this case, may be able to wake up the already dormant pathogens.
Microbial Contamination: A New Risk:
New research has shown that wildfire smoke may also carry bacteria and fungi across vast distances, thereby increasing the risk of foodborne illness. According to a study published in Ecosphere, petri dishes exposed to smoke at different distances from the fire revealed more than 70 types of bacteria and fungi growing on the dishes. This microbial life may reach the food supplies, especially fresh produce and raw foods, exposed to the fumes or chemicals from the fire.
Barbara Brown, an expert food specialist at Oklahoma State University Extension, advises that after a wildfire, any food exposed to fumes, water, or chemicals—especially fresh produce, pantry staples, or items in non-airtight containers—should be discarded. Power outages caused by the fires also pose a significant risk, as perishable items kept at temperatures above 40°F for more than two hours should be thrown out. Spoiled perishables left in a fridge or freezer for even a few days can result in lingering contamination, sometimes requiring the entire fridge to be replaced.
The Larger Context: Climate Change and Food Safety:
As the Los Angeles wildfires continue to burn, it is evident that the threat to air quality and food safety is more widespread than we might have thought. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, hazardous air quality prevails, and contamination has the potential to reach far beyond the immediate fire zones, so residents must take precautions to safeguard their health and their food supplies. This growing crisis requires that responding to disasters goes beyond planning for evacuation; responding to disasters also requires planning that safeguards food systems from the broad impacts of climate-related disasters.
The connection between wildfire smoke, food contamination, and public health is clear—and it’s time we take this threat seriously. As the fires rage on, the need for action and vigilance is greater than ever.