No wildfire-related health risks at Santa Monica and area beaches, experts confirm
April 11, 2025 12:37 PM
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 11, 2025) — Public health officials announced this week that results from both ocean water and sand testing along the county coastline after January’s Palisades Fire showed no evidence of wildfire-related chemical levels that pose a risk to human health.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a notice lifting all fire-related ocean water advisories after “rigorous testing,” and advised beachgoers that it is safe to enter the ocean water and recreate on the sand on Los Angeles County beaches, including those in Santa Monica.
"The ocean water and sediment/beach sand testing, which looked for metals, nutrients, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are chemicals that may be found in water runoff based on previous California wildfires, revealed no chemicals related to wildfires at levels that are dangerous to human health," Public Health’s release stated.
Find the full Public Health press release here.
Water and sediment/beach sand testing was conducted over the past three months by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, which also re-released its testing reports this week to include analysis and screening thresholds to further demonstrate that metal, nutrient, PCB and PAH levels were below state and federal environmental standards for recreational water, residential soil, and Ocean Plan objectives or within background concentrations.
Los Angeles County Department of Beaches & Harbors also released a notice Friday indicating that the “dark sediment on beaches does not pose risk to human health.”
Beachgoers should still stay away from any fire-related debris in the ocean or that has washed up onto the sand.
Find the full release from Beaches & Harbors here.
Santa Monica Beach Maintenance continues to regularly maintain the dry sand on the beaches and handpick large pieces of wildfire debris as it washes up on the coastline. In alignment with Beaches & Harbors, Santa Monica does not scrape the dark, silty wildfire sediment from the wet beach to avoid environmental damage and continues to protect the three-acre natural dune habitat in the North Beach area.
Beachgoers are encouraged to check the ocean water conditions before visiting any beach. The latest water quality information can be found at publichealth.lacounty.gov/beach.
Find the latest information from Santa Monica on Palisades Fire regional recovery here.
Media Contact
Tati Simonian
Public Information Officer
Tati.Simonian@santamonica.gov
Categories
Beach, Other Services, Services