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Int J Hyg Environ Health

Title:		Firefighters' urinary concentrations of VOC metabolites after controlled-residential and training fire responses
Author(s):		Fent KW; Mayer AC; Toennis C; Sammons D; Robertson S; Chen IC; Bhandari D; Blount BC; Kerber S; Smith DL; Horn GP;
Address:		"Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cincinnati, OH, USA. Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cincinnati, OH, USA. Electronic address: Nru1@cdc.gov. Health Effects Laboratory Division, NIOSH, CDC, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA. Fire Safety Research Institute, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, Columbia, MD, USA. Health and Human Physiological Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA; Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. Fire Safety Research Institute, Underwriters Laboratories Inc, Columbia, MD, USA; Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA"
Journal Title:		Int J Hyg Environ Health
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220411
Issue:
Page Number:		113969 -
DOI:		10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.113969
ISSN/ISBN:		1618-131X (Electronic) 1438-4639 (Print) 1438-4639 (Linking)
Abstract:		"INTRODUCTION: Firefighters are exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during structural fire responses and training fires, several of which (e.g., benzene, acrolein, styrene) are known or probable carcinogens. Exposure studies have found that firefighters can absorb chemicals like benzene even when self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) are worn, suggesting that dermal absorption contributes to potentially harmful exposures. However, few studies have characterized VOC metabolites in urine from firefighters. OBJECTIVES: We quantified VOC metabolites in firefighters' urine following live firefighting activity across two field studies. METHODS: In two separate controlled field studies, spot urine was collected before and 3 h after firefighters and firefighter students responded to simulated residential and training fires. Urine was also collected from instructors from the training fire study before the first and 3 h after the last training scenario for each day (instructors led three training scenarios per day). Samples were analyzed for metabolites of VOCs to which firefighters may be exposed. RESULTS: In the residential fire study, urinary metabolites of xylenes (2MHA), toluene (BzMA), and styrene (MADA) increased significantly (at 0.05 level) from pre- to post-fire. In the training fire study, MADA concentrations increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for both firefighter students and instructors. Urinary concentrations of benzene metabolites (MUCA and PhMA) increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for instructors, while metabolites of xylenes (3MHA+4MHA) and acrolein (3HPMA) increased significantly for firefighter students. The two highest MUCA concentrations measured post-shift from instructors exceeded the BEI of 500 mug/g creatinine. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the metabolites that were significantly elevated post-fire are known or probable human carcinogens (benzene, styrene, acrolein); thus, exposure to these compounds should be eliminated or reduced as much as possible through the hierarchy of controls. Given stringent use of SCBA, it appears that dermal exposure contributes in part to the levels measured here"
Keywords:		"Acrolein *Air Pollutants, Occupational/analysis Benzene/analysis Carcinogens *Firefighters/education *Fires Humans *Occupational Exposure/analysis *Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/urine Styrenes *Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis Xylenes Benzene Biomar;"
Notes:		"MedlineFent, Kenneth W Mayer, Alexander C Toennis, Christine Sammons, Deborah Robertson, Shirley Chen, I-Chen Bhandari, Deepak Blount, Benjamin C Kerber, Steve Smith, Denise L Horn, Gavin P eng CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Germany 2022/04/15 Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2022 May; 242:113969. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.113969. Epub 2022 Apr 11"