What the tests say<\/p>\n
Shortly after the fires, the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay and water quality officials gathered sand and water samples<\/a> from Malibu, Palisades and Santa Monica beaches over several months, testing for hazardous forever chemicals, heavy metals and benzene.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we can say is that based on what has been tested and what those results are, the risk appears to be low,\u201d said Tracy Quinn, chief executive of Heal the Bay, which analyzed the samples<\/a>.<\/p>\n While tests at one point did detect chromium in sand samples, the good news is that follow-up tests didn\u2019t find hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen.<\/p>\n Quinn said additional tests are being performed out of an abundance of caution.<\/p>\n Quinn added: \u200a\u201dBased on the fact that this is an unprecedented event and there may be contaminants that we’re not thinking to test for that may be present, that is sort of the best that we can do as scientists right now.\u201d<\/p>\n In early April, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health lifted the ocean water quality advisory that was in place for beaches after the fires.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still best to stay several hundred yards away from any sort of debris removal operation, and to avoid any fire debris you see on the beach.<\/p>\n The potential long term effects of heavy metals and other contaminants on coastal ecosystems still hasn\u2019t been determined.<\/p>\n Careful if you’re swimming near the Santa Monica Pier. Public health warnings for bacteria are frequent there. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Cavan Images<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Getty Images \/ iStockphoto<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Problems at some beaches<\/p>\n Public health agencies usually test for fecal indicator bacteria<\/a> and shut down beaches when levels get too high.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/scpr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/e1fd775\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3863x2578+0+0\/resize\/792x529!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fscpr-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2Fec%2F68f118844ba0a2a60d8e54eb68fd%2Fistock-1455363850.jpg\")
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