Mayer Alexander C, Fent Kenneth W, Chen I-Chen, DuBose Kathleen Navarro, Butler Corey R, West Molly, Calafat Antonia M, Botelho Julianne Cook, Toennis Christine, Meadows Juliana, Sammons Deborah
Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1090 Tusculum AveCincinnati, OH 45226, United States.
Office of Wildland Fire, United States Department of Interior (DOI), P.O. Box 25226, Denver, CO 80225, United States.
Ann Work Expo Health. 2025 Jun 30;69(5):559-567. doi: 10.1093/annweh/wxaf024.
The occupation of firefighting, including wildland firefighting, has been classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Wildland firefighters (WFFs) can be exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in wildfire smoke, some of which are known or probable carcinogens. Currently, there is no approved respiratory protection for WFFs against wildfire smoke, making inhalation exposure to PAHs a health concern. Recent studies have also highlighted the risk of dermal exposure to PAHs for WFFs due to factors like elevated skin temperature, sweat, and the inability to shower or routinely conduct good skin hygiene practices during wildfire incidents. This pilot study aimed to assess PAH exposure among 19 WFFs in different job positions during a wildfire incident by determining urine concentrations of 7 PAH metabolites in samples collected before and after shifts across 3 days. Overall, we observed increases from pre- to post-shift for all 7 PAH metabolites when we combined all WFF samples across the 3 days. When we stratified by job position and by day, concentrations of the PAH metabolites significantly increased from pre- to post-shift for 88% (37/42) of the comparisons (P-values <0.05). Additionally, median post-shift creatinine-corrected concentrations of 2-hydroxynaphthalene exceeded the 95th percentile of the nonsmoking US general population in 67% (4/6) of comparisons. Post-shift concentrations of hydroxynaphthalenes also exceeded concentrations measured in structural firefighters responding to training fires. Overall, 2-hydroxynaphthalene was highest on Day 2 (median creatinine-corrected concentrations of 2-hydroxynaphthalene from pre- to post-shift increased 425% for crew member/overhead; 146% for saw team). Despite this finding, we did not observe significant differences by job position. However, future studies could evaluate how job position affects WFF exposures while also exploring how dermal and inhalation contribute to WFFs' PAH exposure burden.
包括野外灭火在内的消防工作已被国际癌症研究机构列为已知的人类致癌物。野外消防员（WFFs）可能会接触到野火烟雾中存在的多环芳烃（PAHs），其中一些是已知或可能的致癌物。目前，没有批准用于野外消防员抵御野火烟雾的呼吸防护设备，这使得吸入PAHs成为一个健康问题。最近的研究还强调了野外消防员因皮肤温度升高、出汗以及在野火事件期间无法洗澡或常规进行良好的皮肤卫生习惯等因素而导致皮肤接触PAHs的风险。这项试点研究旨在通过测定3天内轮班前和轮班后采集的样本中7种PAH代谢物的尿液浓度，评估19名不同工作岗位的野外消防员在一次野火事件中的PAH暴露情况。总体而言，当我们合并3天内所有野外消防员的样本时，我们观察到所有7种PAH代谢物从轮班前到轮班后的浓度都有所增加。当我们按工作岗位和日期进行分层时，在88%（37/42）的比较中，PAH代谢物的浓度从轮班前到轮班后显著增加（P值<0.05）。此外，在67%（4/6）的比较中，轮班后经肌酐校正的2-羟基萘浓度超过了美国非吸烟普通人群的第95百分位数。轮班后羟基萘的浓度也超过了应对训练火灾的建筑消防员所测得的浓度。总体而言，第2天2-羟基萘的浓度最高（轮班前到轮班后，机组人员/高空作业人员经肌酐校正的2-羟基萘浓度中位数增加了425%；锯木队增加了146%）。尽管有这一发现，但我们未观察到不同工作岗位之间存在显著差异。然而，未来的研究可以评估工作岗位如何影响野外消防员的暴露情况，同时也探索皮肤接触和吸入如何导致野外消防员的PAH暴露负担。
