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New Toxin Detected in Forest Fire Smoke

Michael Reilly, Discovery News

However, she said the results suggest more alkaloids are produced in cooler, smoldering fires. These are typical of controlled burns that forestry officials often set to prevent much hotter, raging wildfires. If further work bears out this conclusion, it may be possible to alter controlled burns in a way that minimizes alkaloid production.

Aerosol pollution is unquestionably deadly -- in the United States alone it kills approximately 50,000 people each year. But it is also a mystery.

"We know that smaller particles seem to be more toxic, but that's about it," Cort Anastasios of the University of California, Davis said. "We don't know what components or types of particles cause the most problems."

Of the study, Anastasios added: "It's very useful in pointing out several new classes of NOCs. They are potentially important for human health, and if they occur in large enough quantities in the atmosphere, could have significant climate effects."

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