Los Angeles, California - Firefighters battling the massive blazes consuming entire neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area have dropped huge quantities of a pink-colored retardant on the flames – but reports say it could have serious environmental and health impacts.

As tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes by the Palisades and Eaton fires, as well as smaller blazes, low-flying planes have been dropping millions of gallons of the retardant.

Colored pink to help firefighters identify where it has been dropped, these chemicals coat vegetation and structures, reducing flammability. They are also not without their fair share of risks.

As a report in the New York Times pointed out, scientists warn that the retardants contain heavy metals and other substances which can be both harmful to human health and to the environment.

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A 2024 study on metals in wildfire suppressants, published in Environment Science and Technology, revealed that about 420 tons of heavy metals had been added to the environment by the use of fire retardants between 2009 and 2021.

"Long-term fire retardants contained concentrations of toxic metals 4-2,880 times greater than drinking water regulatory limits, and potentially greater than some aquatic toxicity thresholds when released into the environment," the study said.

In California, nine large retardant-spraying planes are currently deployed to help fight fires. Two of them are modified DC-10 airplanes capable of dropping nearly 10,000 gallons at a time.

After wildfires have passed through an area, high concentrations of heavy metals are often detected in local waterways.

A spokesperson for Perimeter, one of the companies that manufactures the pink retardant used in Los Angeles, told the New York Times that the chemicals had passed safety checks.