Long after the Maui fires, toxic metals linger in residents’ bodies

New research on Maui's 2023 wildfires shows the health effects are lasting far longer than the fires themselves. Researchers with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa tested urine samples from 1,400 adults six to 18 months after the fires and found elevated levels of toxic metals, including more than double the arsenic, barium, and manganese found in a prior nationwide health survey, and nearly 40 times the antimony, a chemical used in flame retardants that has been linked to lung irritation and stomach pain. Higher metal levels were tied to worse lung function, building on earlier findings that more than 1 in 5 Maui residents had reduced lung capacity after the fires.

Researchers don't yet know how much of this contamination came directly from the fires versus contaminants already present in the environment from decades of agricultural and industrial activity on the islands. Separating those sources is the next phase of the project, backed by a $3.6 million federal grant. The findings matter beyond Maui: as fires increasingly tear through towns and cities, the burning of homes, cars, and infrastructure can leave behind contaminants that linger in the environment and in people's bodies for months or years after the smoke clears.

For homeowners, the takeaway is less about immediate action and more about awareness: wildfire risk doesn't end when the flames are out. Communities rebuilding after fires may be dealing with lingering contamination in soil, water, or air long after reconstruction begins, a factor worth knowing about for anyone in a fire-affected area.