REQUIMTE-LAQV,Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2023 Apr 3;26(3):127-171. doi: 10.1080/10937404.2023.2172119. Epub 2023 Feb 6.
Occupational exposure as a firefighter has recently been classified as a carcinogen to humans by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Biomonitoring has been increasingly used to characterize exposure of firefighting forces to contaminants. However, available data are dispersed and information on the most relevant and promising biomarkers in this context of firefighting is missing. This review presents a comprehensive summary and critical appraisal of existing biomarkers of exposure including volatile organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, several other persistent other organic pollutants as well as heavy metals and metalloids detected in biological fluids of firefighters attending different fire scenarios. Urine was the most characterized matrix, followed by blood. Firefighters exhaled breath and saliva were poorly evaluated. Overall, biological levels of compounds were predominantly increased in firefighters after participation in firefighting activities. Biomonitoring studies combining different biomarkers of exposure and of effect are currently limited but exploratory findings are of high interest. However, biomonitoring still has some unresolved major limitations since reference or recommended values are not yet established for most biomarkers. In addition, half-lives values for most of the biomarkers have thus far not been defined, which significantly hampers the design of studies. These limitations need to be tackled urgently to improve risk assessment and support implementation of better more effective preventive strategies.
职业暴露作为一名消防员，最近被国际癌症研究机构（IARC）归类为人类致癌物。生物监测已越来越多地用于描述消防人员接触污染物的情况。然而，现有的数据分散，缺乏有关这一消防背景下最相关和最有前途的生物标志物的信息。本综述全面总结和批判性评估了现有的暴露生物标志物，包括多环芳烃等挥发性有机化合物、几种其他持久性有机污染物以及在参加不同火灾场景的消防员的生物液中检测到的重金属和类金属。尿液是最具特征性的基质，其次是血液。消防员呼出的呼吸和唾液评估较差。总体而言，消防员在参加消防活动后，体内化合物的生物水平明显升高。目前，结合不同暴露和效应生物标志物的生物监测研究有限，但探索性发现非常有趣。然而，生物监测仍然存在一些尚未解决的主要局限性，因为大多数生物标志物尚未建立参考或推荐值。此外，迄今为止，大多数生物标志物的半衰期值尚未确定，这极大地阻碍了研究的设计。这些局限性需要紧急解决，以改善风险评估并支持实施更好、更有效的预防策略。
