Researchers investigating the long-term effects of the 2025 firestorms on LA’s beaches have found that unusual: good news.
In the year following the Palisades and Eaton fires, levels of hazardous metals such as lead in beach sand and seawater have remained well below California’s safe drinking water limits and US Environmental Protection Agency safety limits for aquatic animals.
“We don’t see any evidence of environmental damage or damage to human health,” said Noelle Held, University of Southern California Marine Biogeochemist and ecosystem principal investigator. CLEAN Waters Projectwhich measures the water level after the fire.
The Palisades and Eaton fires burned more than 40,000 acres and destroyed at least 12,000 structures, to cover the sea with ash up to 100 miles offshore. Heavy rains a few weeks later washed charred remains of plastics, batteries, cars, chemicals and other potentially toxic materials into the sea. and up on the beaches in the majority of the region storm water drainage network and concrete rivers.
It’s the first assessment by environmental non-profit group Heal the Bay in the weeks since the fires wrote the spike on lead, mercury and other heavy metals in coastal waters. Concentrations of beryllium, copper, chromium, nickel and lead in particular much above safety limits have been established for marine animals, raising concerns about the long-term health of fish, marine mammals and the seafood food chain.
In their latest study, Held’s team analyzed seawater samples collected from multiple locations on five separate days between Feb. 10 and Oct. 17 in 2025, and sand collected in August.
Lead concentrations in seawater were highest in the month after the fire and in October, when the first heavy rains of the season just washed months of the city’s pollution into the ocean.
Even at the highest level, lead levels never exceeded 1 microgram per liter – well below the US Environmental Protection Agency’s aquatic life safety limit of 8.1 micrograms per liter.
Although levels of iron, manganese and cobalt were higher in sampling sites near the Palisades burn scar than elsewhere, they remained well below concentrations that could harm human or marine life.
In beach sand collected in August, lead levels never exceeded 14 parts per million at any location, well below both California’s current residential soil standard of 80 parts per million and the 55 parts per million recommended by environmental health researchers.
“This is not something we would raise the alarm if we were to test your soil in your yard,” said Held.
The latest findings are consistent with a water quality assessment by the State Water Resources Control Board conducted in early 2025. A spokesman for the board said that they found both high-altitude metals in close proximity to the burn scars and there was no conclusive evidence that post-fire contamination posed a continuing threat to human health.
However, the need for further testing remains. Officers he tried to answer the questions about beach safety after a fire is partly due to a lack of historical data on pollution levels, which crater researchers would like to prevent before another disaster strikes.
The coming storms may continue to wash away metals at Will Rogers Beach and Rustic Creek, both of which are near the Palisades burn scar, CLEAN Waters warns.
“Post-fire impacts can change over time, depending on rainfall, runoff and soil movement,” said Eugenia Ermacora, manager of the LA chapter of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, which joined the Held team to collect samples. “It’s not just about the fires, but it’s about the migration of people to the cities and how much our city needs to continue the water exploration work.”
