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The context: California’s state standards for residential properties say lead levels should not exceed 80 parts per million. The federal EPA’s standard is 200 parts per million.

The findings: Of the samples taken on lots cleared of debris in the Eaton Fire area, 20% had concentrations of lead above 80 parts per million. In homes that survived, 38% of samples had lead above those levels. The average amount of lead ranged from 80.2 parts per million to 167 parts per million. In the Palisades burn zone, the results did not find any large-scale fire-related soil impacts for lead or other chemicals.

Why the difference? Experts say it’s unclear how much of the contamination existed before the fires and that Altadena likely saw higher levels because the housing stock was older, wit

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