ABC News reported that smoke from the 2025 Los Angeles fires exposed millions of people to high levels of "toxic heavy metals," according to a new study. ABC News said approximately 7 million residents were exposed to airborne lead concentrations over 24 hours during the peak of the fires, and that those concentrations exceeded 80 times the normal background level. The findings are described in an ABC News report on the study.
According to ABC News, the study was published Wednesday in a journal. The name of that journal was cut off in the summary available for this story, so it is not identified here. The ABC News headline referred broadly to toxic heavy metals, while the summary specifically described airborne lead and did not mention any other metal.
ABC News's summary did not say how the lead concentrations were measured, which areas the estimate covered, or how the figure of approximately 7 million residents was calculated. The headline said millions of people were exposed, and the summary gave the more specific figure of approximately 7 million.
The ABC News summary compared the airborne lead concentrations with the normal background level, saying they exceeded 80 times that level. It did not give the background level itself or the concentration measured.
This account relies only on the headline and summary of the ABC News report, so it does not reflect the full text of that report or any other reporting on the study. Additional details about the study's methods, authors, and findings were not available for this story.