Weather & Science

Wildfires Are Unleashing Dangerous Metals From Soil, Study Shows

Researchers discovered widespread high levels of toxic chromium in areas of Northern California severely burned in 2019 and 2020.

A hillside burns during the Glass Fire in Napa County, California, U.S., on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. Firefighters were battling a rapid growing wildfire north of St. Helena in Napa County Sunday that burned structures and prompted evacuations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg

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By Todd Woody

December 13, 2023 at 5:13 PM UTC

Updated on

December 14, 2023 at 3:31 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Extreme heat from California’s climate-driven wildfires is transforming a metal common in soil into an airborne carcinogen that can be inhaled by firefighters and people living downwind of conflagrations, according to first-of-its-kind research.

In a study published Dec. 12 in the journal Nature Communications, Stanford University scientists discovered what they described as widespread and dangerous levels of toxic chromium, called chromium 6, in areas of Northern California severely burned by wildfires in 2019 and 2020.