New York Times | Drs. Michael Jerrett, Yifang Zhu address wildfire health risks

UCLA Fielding School of Public Health environmental science professors Dr. Michael Jerrett and Dr. Yifang Zhu were quoted in the New York Times about the potential long-term health risks to residents in the southern California communities destroyed by wildfires in 2025.

"People are going back into their homes and living in a toxic soup,” said Jerrett, whose research has suggested that more than 50,000 premature deaths in California between 2008 and 2018 can be attributed to particle pollution from wildfires.

In the aftermath of the 2025 fires, initial research has found that more than a mile outside the burn zone, pollutants have become diluted enough by the surrounding air that they pose little danger. “I don’t think people need to worry about moving out of Los Angeles,” Zhu said. 

Read the New York Times Article