Influencers Are Hawking Wellness Products in Response to the LA Fires

This story originally appeared on Mother Jones and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. With smoke filling the air of many neighborhoods, the wellness machine has sprung into action, promoting tinctures, detox products, essential oils, parasite cleanses, and even raw milk as “treatments” for its effects. The situation, DeMille says, is “heartbreaking and really irresponsible.” “How do you know you can trust them if they’re financially driven to sell products and services?” Mallory DeMille, cohost of the Conspirituality podcast In a recent Instagram video, DeMille outlined the ways that wellness influencers are, as she put it, “trying to capitalize” on the wildfires and their potential negative health effects. Many focus on the impact of wildfire smoke on people’s lungs, and suggest potential “treatments,” including supplements, powders, and essential oils, alongside often-cited “detox” tools like drinking apple cider vinegar or taking activated charcoal. “Wellness influencers are always leveraging tragedies,” DeMille points out, “but typically they’re personal tragedies”—say, telling sick people to try their products while undergoing cancer treatments or chronic illness.