Health fears rise in Tehran after Israeli strikes bring black rain

Tehran, a city of more than 9 million people, has been shrouded in thick smoke and dangerous acid rain recently after Israeli strikes hit oil depots and refineries in and near the Iranian capital.

The strikes come amid the U.S. and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 1,300 people, including the country’s longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

What Is Toxic Rain?

World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said on Tuesday that dangerous “black” and “acidic rain” has been falling on Tehran.

“Black rain” is a descriptive term for rainfall that becomes dark or contaminated after passing through heavy smoke, soot or other airborne pollution, including chemicals from burning oil.

Dr. George Thurston, director of the Program in Exposure Assessment and Human Health Effects at the NYU School of Medicine, told Newsweek in an email that the black rain is “likely carbonaceous black soot, which is largely composed of particulate matter air pollution from incomplete combustion.

“This includes a toxic mixture of hazardous materials to breathe, including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide, which can form caustic sulfuric and/or nitric acid.

“Of the types of particulate matter in the air, fossil fuel combustion particles are among the most toxic, per unit mass, due to their composition, which includes toxic transition metals and sulfur. “

The UN says the strikes on oil depots have led to a “massive release” of toxic hydrocarbons, sulfur oxides and nitrogen compounds into the air.

The rain came after Israel hit four oil storage facilities and an oil production center overnight on March 7, with images and videos showing thick clouds of black smoke billowing and massive flames burning up against the dark Tehran skyline.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on social media, “By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale.”

Israel has confirmed it struck them, with Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani telling reporters that the depots “are a legal military target,” arguing they were used to fuel Iran’s war efforts, per Reuters.

Iranian officials alerted residents to stay indoors to protect themselves from the harsh toxins. The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned that the rain can cause serious lung damage and chemical burns to the skin. Dr. Thurston recommended that people stay indoors and use HEPA air filtration when possible. If they must go outside, he said they should wear an N95 or P95 mask to help protect against airborne particles.

Residents of the Iranian capital described the dangerous conditions with fear and disbelief. “The rain is black, I can’t believe it, I’m seeing black rain,” Kianoosh, 44, a Tehran resident and engineer, told TIME earlier this week. “It’s even in Tajrish, which is miles and miles away from the oil tanks.”

An anonymous Tehran resident told The Guardian, “The situation is so frightening it’s hard to describe. Smoke has covered the entire city. I have severe shortness of breath and burning in my eyes and throat, and many others feel the same. But people still have to go outside because they have no choice.”

What Are The Health Effects of Toxic Rain?

Exposure can cause burning eyes, dizziness, coughing and shortness of breath, while high levels of polluted air can worsen asthma and other respiratory problems. The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned that the rain can cause serious lung damage and chemical burns to the skin. Many experts also warn of carcinogens in the air.

Some Iranians have reported symptoms such as these. With internet access in Iran nearly shut down, independent reporting has been severely limited, and more accounts are expected to emerge when communications are restored.

Children, older adults and people with pre-existing health conditions are at the highest risk.

Peter Ross, a pollution specialist and senior scientist at the Sidney, B.C.-based Raincoast Conservation Foundation, told CBC, “That has potential to really seriously threaten public health and the safety of drinking water for quite a while,” he said, adding it will also impact fisheries and agriculture.

Environmentally, acid rain can damage plants, strip soil of nutrients and harm lakes, rivers and other waterways.

Iranian officials alerted residents to stay indoors to protect themselves from the harsh toxins.

Dr. Thurston recommended that people stay indoors and use HEPA air filtration when possible and face masks.

He said: “The fact is that air pollution from burning of fossil fuels around the world is a leading cause of illness and death every year, even without such war-related fires.”

Gulf War Damage: ‘One In Three Still Sick 35 Years Later’

Reports of black rain over Tehran have drawn comparisons to the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraqi forces set fire to hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells.

The blazes sent thick smoke and soot over the region, resulting in black rain. People exposed to the pollution reported respiratory irritation and other short-term health problems.

But there were also much more long-term harms.

“A survey conducted in Kuwait clinics and emergency rooms showed an increase in upper respiratory irritation consistent with environmental air sampling results, indicating occasional high levels of particulates,” a 1997 paper in Environmental Research, referenced by Thurston, states.

That survey found, “Patient visits related to gastrointestinal illness, heart disease, psychiatric illness, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and bronchiectasis increased during the period following the burning of the oil wells.”

While the situations are not directly comparable, given the scale of the 1991 Kuwaiti oil fires and the much greater population density in Tehran, “Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield veterans had a perfect storm of toxic exposures  – the oil raining down, the fires from the oil rigs burning, pesticides, burn pits,” Dr. Nancy Klimas, director for the institute of neuro immune medicine at Nova Southeastern University told Newsweek.

She continued, “the impact is long lasting, causing a debilitating chronic illness that goes beyond bronchitis and asthma,” adding that “one in three [from the area] is sick today, 35 years later.”