Maui wildfire cohort study finds high rates of PTSD and depression; researchers urge more funding and services

Researchers leading the Maui West wildfire exposure cohort reported to the Maui County What's Up Committee on July 21 that more than 2,000 people have enrolled in free health screenings and that the project's year-two results show persistent and alarming mental-health and exposure-related findings among both adults and children.

The research team, based at the Lahaina Comprehensive Health Center and working with the state Department of Health and university partners, said the study enrolled more than 2,000 adults and children for full screenings and that early follow-up shows many participants pursued care after the screenings. "More than 825 participants follow-up with their healthcare provider after participating in Maui West," the researchers reported, and they said 320 participants accessed mental health services after screening.

Nut graf: The cohort team presented data showing high and persistent rates of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) two years after the 2023 wildfires, highlighted concerning biological markers consistent with exposure, and asked county leaders to help identify sustained funding streams for the program and to prioritize health in recovery spending.

Key findings presented included reported mental-health measures and environmental screening results. Presenters said adult participants showed high symptom levels: roughly half screened positive for depressive symptoms, 26 percent had moderate to severe anxiety, and about 4 percent reported having considered suicide in the prior month. Screening identified PTSD symptoms in adults (reports ranged up to 39 percent with mild symptoms and smaller shares with more severe symptoms). The team said child participants also showed elevated distress, with as many as 30 percent showing mild PTSD symptoms and about 11 percent moderate-to-severe PTSD; more than half screened positive for depressive symptoms.

The biomedical component of the study tested urine samples for heavy metals and other contaminants. Investigators said they found elevated levels of heavy metals (including arsenic and lead among others) in roughly 20 percent of samples collected six to nine months after the fires, and that higher urinary levels of certain metals were associated with poorer lung function in cross-sectional analyses. The team said the exposures could reflect mobilization of legacy contaminants in soil and ash and that long-term monitoring is needed to detect chronic disease risks that can take years to appear.

Researchers summarized current funding: the cohort costs about $1.5 million per year to operate for roughly 2,000 participants. They said the National Institutes of Health committed $500,000 per year for five years but that a roughly $1.0 million annual funding gap remained; at the time of the briefing they had asked federal and philanthropic funders and had applied to multiple partners for bridge funding.

During the committee discussion, members and presenters discussed the federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds allocated for Lahaina recovery and noted that only a small percentage of the CDBG-DR allocation had been set aside for public services. The researchers asked the council to consider advocating that a larger share of recovery funds be directed to health and mental health services; one councilor asked the committee to draft a letter to the Office of Recovery to request such a change. Researchers also urged continued investment in school-based culturally rooted mental-health programs and stronger support for community health centers such as the Lahaina clinic and Kahului center.

Ending: The cohort team requested county support and partnership to help sustain the study and its services, and researchers warned the program could scale back or stop without renewed funding (they said the study risked shutting down by October 2025 without additional support). Committee members agreed to explore letters of support and potential funding coordination as follow-up steps.