| Title: | Firefighters' absorption of PAHs and VOCs during controlled residential fires by job assignment and fire attack tactic |
| Author(s): | Fent KW; Toennis C; Sammons D; Robertson S; Bertke S; Calafat AM; Pleil JD; Wallace MAG; Kerber S; Smith D; Horn GP; |
| Address: | "Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cincinnati, OH, USA. kfent@cdc.gov. Division of Applied Research and Technology, NIOSH, CDC, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cincinnati, OH, USA. Division of Laboratory Services, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA. National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Firefighter Safety Research Institute, Underwriters Laboratories, Columbia, MD, USA. Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, NY, USA. Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-, Champaign, IL, USA" |
| Journal Title: | J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41370-019-0145-2 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1559-064X (Electronic) 1559-0631 (Print) 1559-0631 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "To better understand the absorption of combustion byproducts during firefighting, we performed biological monitoring (breath and urine) on firefighters who responded to controlled residential fires and examined the results by job assignment and fire attack tactic. Urine was analyzed for metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and breath was analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including benzene. Median concentrations of PAH metabolites in urine increased from pre-firefighting to 3-h post firefighting for all job assignments. This change was greatest for firefighters assigned to attack and search with 2.3, 5.6, 3.9, and 1.4-fold median increases in pyrene, phenanthrene, naphthalene, and fluorene metabolites. Median exhaled breath concentrations of benzene increased 2-fold for attack and search firefighters (p < 0.01) and 1.4-fold for outside vent firefighters (p = 0.02). Compared to interior attack, transitional attack resulted in 50% less uptake of pyrene (p = 0.09), 36% less uptake phenanthrene (p = 0.052), and 20% less uptake of fluorene (p < 0.01). Dermal absorption likely contributed to firefighters' exposures in this study. Firefighters' exposures will vary by job assignment and can be reduced by employing a transitional fire attack when feasible" |
| Keywords: | "Air Pollutants, Occupational/*analysis Benzene/analysis *Firefighters *Fires Fluorenes Humans Naphthalenes Occupational Exposure/analysis/*statistics & numerical data Phenanthrenes Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons/*analysis Pyrenes Volatile Organic Compou;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineFent, Kenneth W Toennis, Christine Sammons, Deborah Robertson, Shirley Bertke, Stephen Calafat, Antonia M Pleil, Joachim D Wallace, M Ariel Geer Kerber, Steve Smith, Denise Horn, Gavin P eng CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/ Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2019/06/09 J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2020 Mar; 30(2):338-349. doi: 10.1038/s41370-019-0145-2. Epub 2019 Jun 7" |
