KABC News recently reported on the new study from LA Fire HEALTH Study researchers that found chromium-6 in air samples in the months after the Eaton and Palisades fires. Chromium-6 is a potentially harmful metal that can health problems after prolonged exposure.

“It can cause lung cancer, some throat and nasal cancers if the exposure is over a long period of time,” said Dr. Michael Jerrett, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences and a co-author of the study. “On a more acute basis, you can see respiratory irritations, skin irritations, eye irritations.”

Dr. Mike Kleeman from UC Davis, co-author of the study, told KABC News that this finding is significant, less because of current health dangers to LA residents, but more as a public health concern as CA is heading into another fire season. “So, if there is another fire that burns into an urban area, how should you treat that debris?”

Dr. Yifang Zhu, another UCLA co-author, said chromium-6 concentrations [in the study] declined over time and returned to background levels roughly eight months after the fires as the substance converted into the less toxic chromium-3 form.

Researchers said the findings underscore growing concerns about health risks associated with wildland-urban interface fires as such events become more common.

View the full story at KABC.com.

Related stories appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times, Hey Socal, MSN, and Yahoo News, among others.