A paper recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, conducted by the University of Southern California, has found that the sprays and retardants commonly used to put out wildfires contain disturbingly high levels of toxic heavy metals. 

What's happening?

The study found that the 14 fire suppression products examined contained at least eight of the 10 heavy metals they were tested for. These include chromium, cadmium, lead, and arsenic, most of which are highly toxic and known to cause life-threatening diseases, such as cancer.

Phos-Chek, one of the most widely used wildfire retardant products, contained at least 72 mg/L (which essentially means parts per million) of chromium and cadmium (14 ppm), both toxic metals that can cause many health problems.

USC environmental chemist Daniel McCurry, the study's lead author, said the results were "kind of disturbing," according to The New Lede, noting that when they began their first test, it "just lit up for chromium and cadmium and all the other metals we talked abut." Despite what they now know, McCurry said it's premature to draw hard conclusions on the exact implications. 

"My intuition is that it's more of an ecological risk than a human risk," he said.

Why are heavy metals in firefighting products concerning?

As wildfires are becoming increasingly more common as a result of climate change, how we approach subduing their impact becomes more important. 

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, over 8.6 million acres have been burned by wildfires in the United States this year alone. That represents an approximately 27% increase this year in the United States and a 24% increase over the 10-year average. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that over 440 million gallons of these fire retardants were used on federal, state, and private land between 2009 and 2021. 

What's being done about this?

As more toxic chemicals become present in the environment, ensuring the protection of public health is becoming a greater concern than ever. States have already begun introducing legal measures to reduce the prevalence of toxic metals in fire retardants used against wildfires, such as California, which this year alone had over 7,990 wildfires expanding over 1 million acres.

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The state has introduced Prop 65, which requires manufacturers of products sold in California to identify on product labels the presence of toxins, including cadmium, chromium, and vanadium.

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