05/22/2018
at 11:02 AM
Why
Cancer Is a Work-Related Illness for Firefighters
by The Dr. Oz Show
Written by the International Association of
Firefighters (IAFF)
The
firefighting occupation is constantly changing and so are the associated health
concerns. Firefighters dying from occupational-related cancers now account for
more than half of the line-of-duty deaths each year, where the number of
traditional line-of-duty deaths such as structural collapse, asphyxiation, and
burns- have decreased drastically. Unlike other industries or occupations,
firefighting takes place in a chaotic and constantly changing environment. Many
home products are now made of synthetic materials. Additionally,
furniture and its fabrics are synthetic based, instead of natural fibers, and
are treated with flame retardants. The shift has changed the ways fires burn
and the fire products of combustion. Fires now burn hotter and faster, and the
combustion products are highly toxic. This has resulted in cancer becoming the
largest health‐related
issue facing the firefighting profession.
Firefighters
are routinely exposed to a variety of chemical substances. The mixture of
hazardous chemicals are different at every fire, but
the common combustion products encountered by firefighters include but are not
limited to asbestos, arsenic, benzene, polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
formaldehyde, diesel fumes, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and volatile
organic compounds (VOCs). In addition to those, toxic flame retardants have
taken center stage, and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
has spent the past decade pushing to ban the various classes that are known to
cause cancer.
The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently
conducted a landmark study of cancer among U.S. firefighters that included data
from over 30,000 career firefighters employed between 1950 and 2010. The
research found that firefighters compared to the general US population had
statistically significant increases in both diagnosis and death from certain
cancers. This is because firefighters are exposed to toxic chemicals under
firefighting conditions. Additionally, the continuous exposure to
apparatus diesel exhaust can cause health implications.
Firefighters
are exposed to carcinogens during fire suppression and post-fire overhaul
operations. Besides inhalation hazards, chemicals pose a significant threat to
firefighter health through skin absorption, even though they wear full
protective ensembles. After the incident, they are exposed to the toxic
soot that covers their turnout gear and equipment. It is the IAFF’s position
that these exposures are why our members have a significantly higher incidence
rate of certain types of cancer.
As a result of these findings, new
decontamination efforts have been emphasized. It is not possible to extinguish
a fire and not be covered in toxic soot and smoke, therefore there is a push to
clean the skin before leaving the scene and to quickly shower after returning
to the station. Additionally, turnout gear is soap-brushed and rinsed
(decontamination) before removing it at the scene to clean as much soot and
particles off as possible. In addition to proper decontamination, it is
important for firefighters to keep their Self-Containing Breathing Apparatus
(SCBA) on during all phases of fire suppression, overhaul, and on-scene
gross-decontamination because these toxic chemicals and particulates can remain
in the air even after the fire is extinguished. The hope is that these
procedures will minimize fire fighter’s exposure to potentially harmful toxins
as they off-gas from the turnout gear.
As
cancer becomes more recognized as an occupational disease, more states are
passing presumptive laws. This reduces the burden that firefighters must
prove that their cancer was contracted on the job—something that can be
impossible to track because the carcinogens firefighters are exposed to
accumulate over time.
The
occupation is the evidence. Unfortunately, presumptive law is not the same as
federal laws, and they vary state-by-state. Some states are progressive and
have presumptive laws covering multiple forms of cancer, while others are just
starting the process to get one type of cancer covered. The IAFF has a database
displaying presumptions in each state, and it shows the
gaps between what diseases and cancers are covered in each state. Our goal is
to have all states and municipalities recognize that cancer is an occupational disease, and covered under presumptive laws so these brave
men and women do not have to prove their proud occupation caused their disease.