Anaconda Mine Pollution in Arctic Ice and a Danish Child Lung Study

Today's news leans toward research: one study reads old pollution out of Arctic ice, and another follows children's lungs from pregnancy to age 18. There are also updates on oil-field air near Carlsbad Caverns, a failed wildfire tax in San Clemente, and practical steps for protecting a home from wildfire.

Arctic ice records a century-old copper mine plume

Scientists from the Desert Research Institute analyzed 10 ice cores from Greenland, the Russian Arctic and northern Canada. They traced a roughly 15-fold rise in arsenic and other heavy metals, recorded from about 1886 to 1918, back to Montana's Anaconda Copper Mine near Butte, the New York Post reports.

The team estimates the operation emitted 11,000 tons of arsenic and 4,400 tons of lead per year at its peak. The study, published in Nature Sustainability, suggests the plume potentially affected 55% of Americans and around 11% of Canadians living downwind at the time. The researchers say pollution controls 10 years earlier would have prevented an additional 60,000 tons of arsenic and 24,000 tons of lead.

Early-life air pollution tied to weaker lungs in teens

A Danish study followed several hundred pregnant women and their children until age 18, Futurity reports. Children exposed to more fine particles (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide during pregnancy and their first years had a higher risk of lower lung function at age six.

"The children do not appear to outgrow this difference," said lead author Marie Pedersen of the University of Copenhagen. Higher exposure was also tied to slightly slower lung development through adolescence, even when the differences in pollution levels around homes were relatively small. The study appears in BMJ Open Respiratory Research.

Oil-field air near Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns National Park sits in the Permian Basin, where oil and gas activity makes the air, by many metrics, worse than downtown Los Angeles, SFGATE reports. Gas flaring continues in the region even though New Mexico bans it under most circumstances.

A newly released Bureau of Land Management plan from its Carlsbad office would open 97% of the 2.7 million subterranean acres it manages to mineral extraction, adding another 12,096 federal wells.

San Clemente voters reject a wildfire and beach tax

San Clemente's Measure M, a 1% sales tax increase for sand replenishment and wildfire prevention, is trailing by roughly 63% to 37% with the count not yet final, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The vote follows October's Norte fire, which Santa Ana winds pushed into San Juan Capistrano, where seven homes burned; it charred 570 acres in all. Opponents, including Councilmember Zhen Wu, said the measure had no spending plan upfront.

Low-cost ways to make a home safer from wildfire

A writer who narrowly escaped the Bridge Fire near Mount Baldy shares 12 low-cost steps families can take, in a piece for Resilience. The first is to start organizing a five-year wildfire action plan for the home.

The piece cites National Interagency Fire Center figures: by mid-October, more than 64,000 wildfires had burned over 9 million acres across the U.S. this year, 32% more fires and 43% more acreage than the 10-year average for that point. Off-season is a good time to work through a list like this, before the next smoky stretch.

Sources

Widespread air pollution from early 20th Century copper works found in Arctic ice — New York Post
Early-life air pollution tied to worse lung function as a teen — Futurity
The national park with air quality rivaling downtown Los Angeles — SFGATE
San Clemente voters reject sales tax hike to fund beach, wildfire protection — Los Angeles Times
Twelve low-cost ways families can reduce wildfire risk — Resilience

Canairy aggregates publicly reported air-quality and wildfire news and summarizes it in plain English, with links to the original sources. This is educational information, not medical or emergency advice. In a wildfire or air-quality emergency, follow guidance from local authorities.