image: Change in arsenic concentrations pre- and post-wildfire. The forest plot shows pre- (blue) and post-wildfire (orange) arsenic (As) concentrations along with their percent change for articles reviewed containing this information. Shown are maximum values, except in two cases where means are shown as indicated. The dashed line represents the U.S. EPA’s drinking water limit of 10mg/L. Values below the detection limit for individual studies are noted with a “X” rather than a dot.
Credit: Willeford et al., 2026, PLOS Water, CC-BY 4.0
Scoping review suggests drinking water is often contaminated with arsenic following wildfires in the region, especially when mining, agricultural, or urbanized areas were burned.
Article Link: https://plos.io/4qgvqmB
Article Title: Wildfire mobilization of arsenic into water resources: A scoping review of current literature
Author Countries: United States
Funding: Support was provided in part by a research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (R01ES035878 to JR). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS Water
Article Publication Date
19-Aug-2026
COI Statement
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.