The federal government and American chemical makers have hidden the contents of pink wildfire inhibitors that are widespread by a firefighting plane to contain fire, but the new test results provide disturbing answers – the materials exceed the cadmium, arsenic, chrome and other toxic heavy metals.
The repressive is a “major” source of toxic pollution that causes high levels of heavy metals in the environment, and the products themselves contain mineral levels up to 3000 times over the limits of drinking water Research reviewed by the peers He found.
Government makers and chemicals have claimed up to 20 % of the contents of the weather inhibitors are “commercial secrets” and an exemption from the general disclosure, so while there was there Suspicion From the toxicity of the materials, the study is the first to confirm the presence of minerals.
It also highlights the tension between protecting human health and property from forest fires by spraying very toxic substances – about 440 million gallons were sprayed between 2009 and 2021.
“South California University, authors of the Air Fire inhibitors have grown, there are potentially a lot of toxic minerals that were launched in the environment of their use, a trend that may increase its intensification if forest fire frequency continues.”
The stabilizers are a mixture of water, fertilizers and unpopular ingredients, while pink comes from an additional dye to show firefighters as it is sprayed. Minerals are likely to be used as anti -corrosion factors to prevent the plane tanks from disintegration, as the authors wrote. This mixture works by painting the vegetation and lowering the amount of oxygen that can nourish the fire.
The material was dropped up to 25 aircraft per day to contain the destroyed Los Angeles fires, and photo It is clearly transferred to trade, while showing homes and property covered with hot pink repression.
The levels of minerals in the inhibitors meet federal guidelines and the authors were initially more concerned about environmental pollution, but the heavy use in residential areas this year raises a new set of concerns. .
“Will the dangerous waste sills put the appropriate tape for a body, or, or, if they are widely used in populated neighborhoods, do we need to get more striking concentrations of toxic vehicles?” Coin request.
Although mineral pollution has been documented in the wake of forest fires, previous research has largely ignored the possibility of stems from the uninhabited installed components. Researchers at the University of Southern California began “circumstantial evidence” that referred to this possibility – an internal federal report that uses the use of detailed minerals, and notice an environmental violation in Washington, which revealed the possibility of pollution of toxic minerals.
Authors have tested 10 types of commercial stabilizers commonly used and confirmed that they contain high levels of toxic metals.
Then the researchers examined the federal and state records to determine the location of the inhibitors between 2009 and 2021, as well as the levels of minerals in the environment, and showed that the data followed by the results of its testing.
McCuri said that the producer of one of the inhibitors said that a new generation of the product is “more green”, but he added “so that we can coincide with some of these materials and test it, we don’t really know.”
