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But campaigners have long warned about a lack of regulation and that sludge could be contaminated with cancer-linked chemicals, microplastics, and other industrial pollutants.

Researchers have found that pollutants in the Tijuana River, which carries raw sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana, are also turning up in the air along the coast near the U.S.-Mexico border.

He said the efforts should be prioritized given the area’s high rates of respiratory illnesses, driven partly by toxic lake bed dust laced with pesticides and other pollutants that have accumulated over decades.

With 9% less rainfall this year compared with the historical 10-year average, fewer pollutants, such as bacteria, trash and chemicals, washed into storm drains and onto the ocean, according to the report.

There also isn’t much historical data with which to compare the current amounts of pollutants such as plasticizers, fire retardants and other modern chemicals to pre-fire conditions.