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Test results released by a nonprofit environmental group found that it spiked in coastal waters off Los Angeles after the January fire, sparking serious concerns about the long-term health of fish, marine mammals and marine food chains.
For human surfers and swimmers, the results were somewhat encouraging. The levels of contamination from sampled water were not high enough to pose a health risk to recreational beach fans.
However, tests of seawater collected before and after heavy rains in late January identified five heavy metals, beryllium, copper, chromium, nickel and lead, at levels well above the established safety thresholds for marine life after the fire was mitigated.
Even at relatively low concentrations, these metals can damage cells and destroy the reproductive and other biological processes of marine animals.
Metals also accumulate in the tissues of animals exposed to them, climbing the food chain as those organisms are eaten by larger ones.
“Most of these metals move easily through food webs and affect humans directly or indirectly via food and drinking water,” says Dimitri Dehaine, a marine biologist with the Scripps Industrial Agency in San Diego, California.
Everything is found in dust and rocks, and is not harmful at the moment when it is naturally infringed.
“That’s why these factors are dangerous,” Dehaine said. “Our bodies are designed to take them out, but we are usually exposed to only small amounts.”
January 24th and January 25th – Before rains the following week, Bay staff collected saltwater samples from eight locations along the coastline at or near the Pallisard burns. We also controlled samples outside the burn zone at Paradise Cove in Malibu and Malaga Cove at Palos Verdes Estate.
They collected additional samples on January 28th. This comes after the first massive storm of months poured 0.5 inches of rain in the LA Basin, washing away the debris into the ocean.
They tested 116 contaminants. The majority were either absent or not found in almost all samples collected for a small amount.
However, levels of beryllium, copper, chromium, nickel and lead are two to four times higher than the largest permitted by California law at Big Rock Beach, Malibu, with some ruins of the destroyed home still on the sand.
“It’s not surprising because it’s where we burned debris inside the High Tide Line, [where] Every day, the oceans are smashing more and more pollutants into the ocean,” said Tracy Quinn, Bay CEO.
At Santa Monica Pier and Dockweiler Beach, both are south of the burn, with both lead and chromium levels being the safety threshold for marine life triple California. At the Santa Monica test site after the rain, the levels of metals that are toxic to fish and corals and cause human breathing dyspnoea were more than 10 times the maximum allowed.
Further research is needed to determine whether fire-related contaminants are pooling in those areas or whether high levels come from other sources of contamination, Quinn said.
“I don’t recommend consuming fish that are currently caught in Santa Monica Bay,” Quinn said.
Suzanne Brander, an associate professor and ectotoxicologist at Oregon State University, suggests that the level of these initial results guarantees more testing.
“Whenever there’s a big home wildfire, this is the kind of pollution you’re trying to see,” she said. “You need to look at these results and test the soil. You need to test your drinking water.”
Quinn looked at some restrictions to heal the Bay data. Samples were collected in late January and may not represent current marine conditions. Also, there is no regular testing program for these contaminants, so there is no baseline data indicating the preferred conditions in the same area where samples can be compared.
The tissues also sampled 25 different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organic compounds formed when oils, wood or debris burn. The organization is hoping for results in the coming weeks, Quinn said.
The January fire and subsequent heavy rains directed unprecedented amounts of ash, debris and chemical residue into the ocean through a large network of rivers in the LA area’s large storm drains and concrete-lining.
The Pallisard and Eton fires burned over 40,000 acres, destroying at least 12,000 buildings. For months after they erupted, the remains of cars, plastics, batteries, household chemicals and other potentially toxic materials have been washed away by the ocean and continued to wash them on the beach.
“I don’t think there is a precedent for this type of input into marine ecosystems,” marine biologist Noel Bowlin said in January.
In addition to fire contamination, California’s marine life is under threat from the development of domain acid, a neurotoxin released by several seaweeds.
Hundreds of animals have washed away diseases and deaths along California’s southern and central coasts in recent weeks.
Nutrients such as sulfates and phosphorus feeding harmful algae were among the substances that fire was released into the ocean, but it healed the bay and said there was no correlation between fire-related pollution and the outbreak that is currently making marine animals sick.
Understanding all the impacts of heavy metals, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants released by the fire on marine ecosystems is “a large-scale, collaborative effort,” says Jen Cosabone, a fourth-year student at UC Davis Veterinary Medicine, who recently completed her PhD in destruction of fish endocrine.
“Species at each level of the food chain, from invertebrates to fish, birds, marine mammals and humans, can be affected differently based on physiology and feeding strategies,” she said. “It’s very important to connect each part of these puzzles and really understand the impact on the food web.”
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