NIH R01 · 2025
Contaminant Metal Content in Wildfire Smoke and Neuroinflammation
SUMMARY Wildland fire disasters raged throughout the western US in recent years, continuing a trend for increasing frequency and severity of such events driven by climate change. Smoke arising from these events covered much of the continent, exposing over 100 million people. Wildland fires in the New Mexico region can cross over regions of legacy mining contamination or nuclear development. Evidence from past fires in Los Alamos, for instance, revealed significant elevations of arsenic, nickel, and cadmium in the urine from first responders. We have further identified that wood obtained near abandoned uranium mine sites that have elevated uranium, chromium, nickel and vanadium. Our recent…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.