The recent Los Angeles Wildfires have devastated land and destroyed over 12,000 homes and businesses, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Hannah Root, a Pepperdine junior Vocal Performance major who has asthma, said the fires have made it hard for her to breathe.
“I’ve had worsened conditions and a harder time breathing overall,” Root said. “I have been wearing a N95 mask pretty much all of the time to try and block out all of the pollutants, but it doesn’t really help and I have to use my inhaler a lot more which also has the side effect of making me really anxious and shaky, so it’s not fun.”
Wildfires release pollutants including carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, made up of inorganic compounds and acids, according to a 2025 article from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
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The Palisades and Eaton Fires were named some of California’s most destructive wildfires by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Los Angeles Department of Public Health website reported that living in the greater Los Angeles area has become life-threatening for those with pre-existing respiratory issues.
Root said she has had a more difficult time singing as a result of the fires, and even postponed her arrival back to campus because she was concerned the chemicals in the air would affect her health.
“I had appointments with my doctors and they strongly encouraged me not to return to campus for three weeks actually,” Root said. “I also read a lot of articles from UCLA Health and other air quality experts warning us that the Air Quality Index does not measure everything and even the ash that settled on the ground is not measured.”
She also said her worsened asthma symptoms have made it more challenging for her to hold notes and sing consecutive phrases.
“For an asthmatic in particular, the effects can be very long term with these kinds of things,” Root said.
Chemicals released from fires affect human’s health
Narinder Shargill, vice president of global medical affairs at Pulmonx, a medical device company, said patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), better known as emphysema, could have more lung inflammation because of the chemicals released by the fires.
“Patients with emphysema have destruction of part of their lung called alveoli, which means the air keeps getting trapped in their lungs,” Shargill said. “We developed a one-way valve called a Zephyr Valve which can be implanted without surgical incision.”
Shargill said the Zephyr Valve allows more air to be exhaled from the lung until the diseased part collapses, allowing the lungs to expand and function better.
“Once you’re in there, you can find the part of the lung that is most diseased and deploy the valves to block the airways,” Shargill said.
Medical devices like the Zephyr Valve should be largely unaffected by the wildfires, but patients who have not taken action against their COPD yet, may experience more pain when breathing, according to Shargill.
Looking out for those with pre-existing respiratory issues
Haley Hoy, a nurse practitioner of 20 years specializing in lung transplants, said people with respiratory issues can be an overlooked and underserved population.
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“Wildfires act as an irritant and can cause exacerbation, which we know can have a long term impact on mortality with patients with chronic lung disease,” Hoy said. “Nitrogen dioxide is a pungent brownish-red gas that is heavier than air. It can be a potential significant irritant for patients with underlying lung disease.”
Both Shargill and Hoy said wearing masks outside helps prevent wildfire chemicals from entering the lungs and patients facing pulmonary difficulty should try to stay indoors as much as possible.
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Email Kaiya Treash: kaiya.treash@pepperdine.edu
