Don’t worry about fire retardent

EDITOR,
John Culloty (Letters, Aug. 28, “Is fire retardant safe?”) really doesn’t need to worry about fire retardant.
A great number of people in this area have been affected by smoke — not fire retardant. Smoke is not good for anyone, and yes, people “who don’t have health issues” can be sensitive to wildfire smoke.
On the other hand, fire retardant is not likely to be a health issue. It is a relatively nontoxic slurry of water, phosphates and sulfates, clay, gum and color. Fire retardant is designed to have fairly heavy particles that fall and stick to the vegetation it is targeted to protect. So, it doesn’t “waft about” in the atmosphere.
Some people may be sensitive to phosphates and sulfates, but not in the concentrations in the valley while the fire was ablaze. Just as a reality check, if you were to spray your roses with Miracle Grow, you would be getting many, many times more phosphates in aerosol than you could possibly have been exposed to from fire retardant.
So let’s not worry too much and get back to cheering the firefighters!
Jill Collen, Boulder Creek