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Politico: ‘Climate damage hits LA firefighters’ lungs’ – ‘Yet another example of the spreading havoc from climate change’ – Will doctors now diagnose ‘climate lung?!’

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2025/01/13/climate-damage-hits-la-firefighters-lungs-00197893

Climate damage hits LA firefighters’ lungs

By ARIANNA SKIBELL

Firefighters are risking not just their lives but also their health to beat back the unprecedented blazes engulfing the Los Angeles region — in yet another example of the spreading havoc from climate change.

Urban wildfires release a host of chemicals into the air — from copper to lead — and protective gear falls woefully short, writes Ariel Wittenberg. The situation underscores just how unprepared cities are for the changing nature of wildfires as humans continue to encroach on nature and as a warming planet dries out vegetation, turning it into dangerous kindling.

“All these chemicals we don’t think of occurring in a wildland fire are now part of the smoke,” said Mary Johnson, principal research assistant at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The list is really long, and it’s really not good.”

…

“It’s almost like instantaneous black lung,” Galloway said. “That’s the biggest threat to wildland firefighters. … You have got to keep these carcinogenic particles out of their system.”

 

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