![Wildfires](https://media.nbcboston.com/2023/10/107326136-1698761625938-AP23304319907930-1.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=320%2C180)
After some recent intense wildfires in Northern California, scientists tested samples of singed soil and were disturbed by their findings: It was laden with a cancer-causing metal called hexavalent chromium.
Scientists think the heat of severe wildfires can transform a benign version of the metal, which is found commonly in California soil, into a notorious carcinogen, according to new research published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday.
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As climate change intensifies wildfires, scientists are trying to figure out just how dangerous their smoke can be for human health. Researchers have found dangerous metals — from burned-out cars, houses and farms — in previous fires. The new finding adds a surprising twist to the growing body of research and suggests that wildfires burning in natural areas could be pumping smoke containing a toxic metal into the atmosphere, too.
“I think it changes our risk analysis when you think about exposure to wildfire smoke,” said Scott Fendorf, a professor of earth system science at Stanford University and an author of the study.
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