Department of Environmental & Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2024 May;21(5):353-364. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2024.2323109. Epub 2024 Apr 1.
Structural firefighters are exposed to a complex set of contaminants and combustion byproducts, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Additionally, recent studies have found structural firefighters' skin may be exposed to multiple chemical compounds via permeation or penetration of chemical byproducts through or around personal protective equipment (PPE). This mannequin-based study evaluated the effectiveness of four different PPE conditions with varying contamination control measures (incorporating PPE interface design features and particulate blocking materials) to protect against ingress of several VOCs in a smoke exposure chamber. We also investigated the effectiveness of long-sleeve base layer clothing to provide additional protection against skin contamination. Outside gear air concentrations were measured from within the smoke exposure chamber at the breathing zone, abdomen, and thigh heights. Personal air concentrations were collected from mannequins under PPE at the same general heights and under the base layer at abdomen and thigh heights. Sampled contaminants included benzene, toluene, styrene, and naphthalene. Results suggest that VOCs can readily penetrate the ensembles. Workplace protection factors (WPFs) were near one for benzene and toluene and increased with increasing molecular weight of the contaminants. WPFs were generally lower under hoods and jackets compared to under pants. For all PPE conditions, the pants appeared to provide the greatest overall protection against ingress of VOCs, but this may be due in part to the lower air concentrations toward the floor (and cuffs of pants) relative to the thigh-height outside gear concentrations used in calculating the WPFs. Providing added interface control measures and adding particulate-blocking materials appeared to provide a protective benefit against less-volatile chemicals, like naphthalene and styrene.
结构消防队员暴露在一组复杂的污染物和燃烧副产物中，包括挥发性有机化合物（VOC）。此外，最近的研究发现，结构消防队员的皮肤可能通过个人防护设备（PPE）中的化学副产品的渗透或穿透而暴露于多种化学化合物。这项基于人体模型的研究评估了四种不同的 PPE 条件的有效性，这些 PPE 条件具有不同的污染控制措施（包括 PPE 界面设计特征和颗粒阻挡材料），以防止几种 VOC 在烟雾暴露室中的进入。我们还研究了长袖基层服装的有效性，以提供额外的皮肤污染防护。在呼吸区、腹部和大腿高度，从烟雾暴露室内测量外部装备的空气浓度。在 PPE 下，从人体模型收集个人空气浓度，同样在一般高度和基层在腹部和大腿高度。采样污染物包括苯、甲苯、苯乙烯和萘。结果表明，VOC 很容易穿透服装。工作场所保护因子（WPF）接近苯和甲苯的 1，并且随着污染物分子量的增加而增加。与裤子相比，在帽子和夹克下 WPF 通常较低。对于所有 PPE 条件，裤子似乎提供了对 VOC 进入的最大整体保护，但这可能部分归因于地板（和裤子袖口）附近的空气浓度较低，与用于计算 WPF 的大腿高度外部装备浓度相比。提供额外的界面控制措施并添加颗粒阻挡材料似乎对挥发性较低的化学物质（如萘和苯乙烯）提供了保护作用。
