Wildfire occurrence and intensity are increasing worldwide due to climate change. With increasing burning, destruction of wildland-urban interface communities may cause contamination of surrounding waterways by ash and debris from burned structures, cars, and buildings. However, the effects of burned urban residues in surface water are not well understood in terms of contaminants of emerging concerns. In this study, we collected stormwater samples for one year following the November 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive fire in California history with near 18,000 structures and thousands of vehicles burnt. We comprehensively characterized organic contaminant profiles and dynamics via targeted quantification of 35 stormwater-derived chemicals and complementary HRMS suspect screening. For quantified analytes, pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative pesticide and a likely human carcinogen, dominated the chemical profiles with concentrations up to 2400 ng/L and detection frequency of 89%. In one sampling site close to a burnt pharmacy, 6400 ng/L of ibuprofen and 1500 ng/L of caffeine was detected in November 2018, and suspect screening revealed acetaminophen and lidocaine presence in the same sample with rare detections of these pharmaceuticals in other locations. Suspect screening also revealed high levels of perfluorinated compounds in samples collected in November 2018 compared with those collected in the following year. These results highlighted the impact of urban burning on the release of contaminants of emerging concerns into surrounding watersheds, and identified potential threats to human and ecological health.

Impact of widespread urban burning during the 2018 Camp Fire, California, on contaminants of emerging concerns in watershed

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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