School of Public Health and Social Work, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2024 Nov;21(11):831-841. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2024.2400237. Epub 2024 Oct 23.
This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of personal protective equipment (PPE) in reducing firefighter exposure to various hazardous chemicals from the smoke emitted during fires. A systematic review of peer-reviewed articles was undertaken utilizing five databases: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINHAL. Studies published between 2013 and 2023 that investigated the effectiveness of PPE in reducing firsthand exposure to at least one chemical were included. Extracted data were grouped into two overarching themes related to PPE: (a) Respiratory Protection and (b) Personal Protective Clothing (PPC). Overall, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria and were considered for further analysis. Respiratory protection, particularly self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), offered the most protection in preventing inhalation exposure to chemical hazards. There was limited evidence on the effectiveness of firefighter turnout gear in reducing skin contamination. Combustion contaminants, especially highly volatile compounds like benzene, were found to permeate and penetrate through and around the protective clothing. In conclusion, certain respirators, particularly SCBA, provided the best protection against inhalation exposure to chemicals; however, PPC did not appear to provide complete protection, particularly against the more volatile chemicals like benzene.
本文旨在研究个人防护设备（PPE）在减少消防员接触火灾产生的烟雾中各种有害化学物质方面的有效性。使用五个数据库：Medline、Embase、Web of Science、Scopus 和 CINHAL 进行了同行评议文章的系统回顾。纳入了 2013 年至 2023 年间研究 PPE 减少至少一种化学物质直接暴露效果的研究。提取的数据分为与 PPE 相关的两个总体主题：（a）呼吸保护和（b）个人防护服（PPC）。总体而言，有 21 项研究符合纳入标准，并被考虑进一步分析。呼吸保护，特别是自给式呼吸器（SCBA），在防止吸入化学危害方面提供了最大的保护。关于消防服在减少皮肤污染方面的有效性的证据有限。发现燃烧污染物，特别是像苯这样的高挥发性化合物，能够渗透和穿透防护服。总之，某些呼吸器，特别是 SCBA，提供了防止吸入化学物质暴露的最佳保护；然而，PPC 似乎并不能提供完全的保护，特别是对像苯这样更易挥发的化学物质。
