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.

DUARTE, Calif. (AP) — Not far from where Ceci Carroll lives, a rock-mining company has polluted the air with dust across the San Gabriel Valley, she said.

Now, as crews clean charred remains from the Los Angeles wildfires, she worries about a new potential source of contamination: a site to process hazardous debris from the Eaton Fire. //

In an unprecedented collective scientific effort to understand the short- and long-term health impacts of wildfires, researchers from four universities have launched a 10-year study of the Los Angeles fires. The wildfires that began in early January 2025 killed 29 people, destroyed more than 16,000 structures, and exposed millions to toxic smoke.

The research aims to evaluate which pollutants are present, at what levels, and where, and to assess the respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, reproductive, and immune system impacts of the wildfires.

Mental health responders are using a strategy to help fire victims called Psychological First Aid — often compared to CPR for mental health. Its initial step is finding what a person needs right now.

The key ingredient in the fire retardant is ammonium phosphate, which is commonly found in fertilizer.

"Dr. Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, said the benefits of using fire retardants outweigh the risks.

Survivors of wildfires like those burning across Los Angeles can experience mental health issues long after a blaze is out.

Aliso Canyon Disaster Health Research Study

The Aliso Canyon Health Study is led by a team of prominent and established researchers at UCLA with the expertise needed to answer questions about the disaster.

Differences in race and ethnicity, income level, and sexual orientation and gender identity continued in 2023 to be linked to differences in equitable experiences across a range of health-related issues affecting Californians, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s latest California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).