{"id":5547,"date":"2026-03-20T18:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/?post_type=news&p=5547"},"modified":"2026-03-20T19:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T19:16:17","slug":"new-report-on-l-a-post-fire-beach-contamination-finds-something-unexpected-good-news","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/new-report-on-l-a-post-fire-beach-contamination-finds-something-unexpected-good-news\/","title":{"rendered":"New report on L.A. post-fire beach contamination finds something unexpected: good news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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News<\/span> | <\/span>LA Times<\/span> | <\/span>March 2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

New report on L.A. post-fire beach contamination finds something unexpected: good news<\/h1>\n\n\n

Researchers investigating the long-term effects of the 2025 firestorms on L.A.\u2019s beaches have found that rarest of things: good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year following the Palisades and Eaton fires, levels of harmful metals like lead in coastal sand and seawater have remained far below California\u2019s limits for safe drinking water and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s safety thresholds for aquatic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not seeing any evidence for harm in the ecosystem or harm for human health,\u201d said Noelle Held, a University of Southern California marine biogeochemist and principal investigator for the\u00a0CLEAN Waters project<\/a>, which is measuring post-fire water quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read the full article on the LA Times<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Noelle Held, a microbiologist from USC, collects a sand sample at Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica on June 1, 2025. (Hon Wing Chiu \/ For The Los Angeles Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tClimate & Sustainability<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tDisaster Response<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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