UCLA, community partners support Altadena fire recovery with free soil testing

A team of UCLA researchers joined with community partners Dec. 6 to test soil samples from neighborhoods hit hard by the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires, including Altadena, Pasadena and the Crescenta Valley, for lead and other contaminants dispersed by the fires.

"Things like adding clean soil, compost, mulch, keeping your yard planted; all of these techniques can reduce potential risk," said Kirsten Schwarz, associate professor of environmental health sciences in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a leader of the LA Urban Soil Social Impact Collaborative, a community-university partnership funded by UCLA's Center for Community Engagement. "They can create a barrier between potentially contaminated soil and people; they can dilute the overall amount of lead, or in some cases they combine the lead into a form that's less (dangerous), so if we are exposed, it's less harmful."

The Collaborative, which includes researchers from across UCLA and L.A.-based organizations, including the nonprofit TreePeople, has hosted a series of soil testing events, workshops and remediation projects across the region.

At the event, held in Pasadena's Washington Park, the team welcomed nearly 70 residents and screened roughly 200 soil samples using portable X-ray fluorescence analyzers to detect heavy metals, including lead, a known cause of significant illness. Overall, the project has tested almost 600 samples for roughly 250 residents.

"It was great that they are doing this - having information is crucial," said Kevin Bolling, who lost his Altadena home in the fires. "This is probably the third time I've submitted samples, and because it was one-stop and here, we got them right away - but two other samples, I received no test results back, so I have no idea ... my results are not great, but at least I know and knowing is the biggest part."

Read more on the Fielding school's website.