Maui Wildfire Aftermath: No Evidence of Widespread Lead Exposure, Says Health Department

Last summer, wildfires devastated the town of Lahaina in west Maui. Following the disaster, health officials in Hawaii conducted testing on residents to determine if there was evidence of widespread lead exposure. However, after analyzing blood samples from 557 individuals, only 27 tested positive for lead.

Further testing revealed that out of the 27 individuals who initially tested positive for lead, 15 did not have elevated blood lead levels. This indicates that there were likely false positives in their initial screenings. Despite this, the state health department emphasized that there was no significant evidence of lead exposure among the residents of west Maui following the wildfires.

Dr. Kenneth Fink, the state Health Director, stated that the results were reassuring and indicated that there were no expected health impacts due to toxins in the wildfire ash. Lead is a heavy metal of concern that was found in high concentrations in the ashes of the wildfires, but the testing did not suggest widespread exposure to the toxic metal among the residents of west Maui.