"Air, soil, water and dust: New study focuses on long-term health impacts of LA wildfire pollution" | Southern California Public Radio
A team of university researchers has launched a planned 10-year project to examine pollution from Los Angeles' recent wildfires and study its long-term impacts on health.
The researchers, including those from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, say they want to look at what exposure to pollution from thousands of burned structures does to people over time. Specifically, they say, they’ll look at how Angelenos’ respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems may be affected.
Although the project is expected to go on for years, some answers may be available much sooner.
“If we don't supply the science quickly, we could have large numbers of people going back into their homes that haven't been properly remediated and exposing themselves to unacceptably high levels of volatile organic compounds, which could have immediate and long term health consequences,” said Dr. Michael Jerrett, a professor in UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.