California’s Salton Sea Is Emitting Way More Toxic Gas Than We Thought

California’s largest and The most polluted lakeSalton Sea, hydrable sulfide, harmful gas, the state’s air quality standards overlaps in the state. Anxiety, a new study finds that California’s air quality monitoring systems can seriously assess how heavy people living near the lake.

Hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs, coordinated to a house of respiratory and neurological symptoms. New work published in the magazine GeohealthSalton emphasizes the risks that cause the sea emissions to violate nearby communities, most of them Latino or Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla India.

“Communities around the SALTON Sea are on the frontline of the environmental health crisis,” Research co-chair Mara Freiart, Associate Professor at Brown University statement. “Our research shows that the previous monitoring of hydrogen-sulfide waste is not more intense, but they are systematically placed – especially when the sensors are away from the lake or adapt to the dominant winds.”

This Sea of ​​the Salton About 160 miles (258 kilometers) are about 160 miles (258 kilometers) from Los Angeles about 160 miles (258 kilometers), Palm Springs and Coachella valley. Initially, in 1905, the Colorado River broke his irrigation canal, the accident occurred. This is a natural stream or exit and, state law, First of all, fertilizer and pestiside-laden are continuous with agricultural flow. Lake has never been anything since Environmental disaster. Climate change, drought and reduced water flow pushed the water level of the SALTON Sea down and down In the last two decades, the hydrogen sulfide production of the lake increases and toxic dust.

For research, Brown University, UCLA, Loma Linda University, along with Alianza Coachella Valley, which is a local community organization, to explore the reasons for hydrogen sulfide emissions.

Researchers to measure emissions, South Coast Air quality management District (aircraft) monitors were installed in three places and additional sensors inside the lake. The study, in 2013 and 2024, in all three places, in consistently, California’s air quality standards exceeded the air quality standards. Readings since 2013 and since 2024 in the summer and August, since 2024, the nearest site Torres Martinez, which has been read more than 250 hours, exceeding state standards.

However, even these scary measurements were probably estimated, the authors wrote. An air quality sensor placed in the shallow waters of the lake, especially in the wind, and revealed significant high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide blowing on shallow water. This indicates that hydrogen sulfide, which blows nearby communities, can be important and sight.

“It shows that there is a significant part of our results [hydrogen-sulfide] The issuers remain unaccounted for transportation without potentially air monitoring stations, “the researchers wrote.

There are only three air quality monitoring sites between many communities in the SALTON sea.

The problem will probably get worse. Softening efforts for the SALTON Sea did not continue to repeat the level of water, wrote the “serious health effects” in an area with research authors, high-level asthma and other lung diseases.