Occupational Health Concerns of Firefighting

Guidotti, Tee L.; Clough, Veronica M.

doi:10.1146/annurev.pu.13.050192.001055

Cited by 99 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Woodsmoke exposures have been associated with respiratory infections, COPD, impaired lung function, and lung cancer (Naeher et al, 2006). Occupational exposures to wood smoke occur among occupations such as charcoal production workers (Kato et al, 2004), urban firefighters (Gold et al, 1978;Guidotti and Clough, 1992), and wildland firefighters (Reinhardt and Ottmar, 2004;Naeher et al, 2006). An estimated 70-80,000 US workers are involved in wildland firefighting annually (Harrison et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological monitoring of smoke exposure among wildland firefighters: A pilot study comparing urinary methoxyphenols with personal exposures to carbon monoxide, particular matter, and levoglucosan

Neitzel

Naeher

Paulsen

et al. 2008

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Urinary methoxyphenols (MPs) have been proposed as biomarkers of woodsmoke exposure. However, few field studies have been undertaken to evaluate the relationship between woodsmoke exposure and urinary MP concentrations. We conducted a pilot study at the US Forest Service F Savannah River Site, in which carbon monoxide (CO), levoglucosan (LG), and particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) exposures were measured in wildland firefighters on prescribed burn days. Pre-and post-shift urine samples were collected from each subject, and cross-shift changes in creatinine-corrected urinary MP concentrations were calculated. Correlations between exposure measures and creatine-adjusted urinary MP concentrations were explored, and regression models were developed relating changes in urinary MP concentrations to measured exposure levels. Full-shift measurements were made on 13 firefighters over 20 work shifts in winter 2004 at the US Forest Service Savannah River site, a National Environmental Research Park. The average workshift length across the 20 measured shifts was 701 ± 95 min.LG and CO exposures were significantly correlated for samples where the filter measurement captured at least 60% of the work shift (16 samples), as well as for the smaller set of full-shift exposure samples (n ¼ 9). PM 2.5 and CO exposures were not significantly correlated, and LG and PM 2.5 exposures were only significantly correlated for samples representing at least 60% of the work shift. Creatinine-corrected urinary concentrations for 20 of the 22 MPs showed cross-shift increases, with 14 of these changes showing statistical significance. Individual and summed creatinine-adjusted guaiacol urinary MPs were highly associated with CO (and, to a lesser degree, LG) exposure levels, and random-effects regression models including CO and LG exposure levels explained up to 80% of the variance in cross-shift changes in summed creatinine-adjusted guaiacol urinary MP concentrations. Although limited by the small sample size, this pilot study demonstrates that urinary MP concentrations may be effective biomarkers of occupational exposure to wood smoke among wildland firefighters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological monitoring of smoke exposure among wildland firefighters: A pilot study comparing urinary methoxyphenols with personal exposures to carbon monoxide, particular matter, and levoglucosan

Neitzel

Naeher

Paulsen

et al. 2008

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…Cuprous chloride and ethanolamine hydrochloride used together, however, constitute the best catalyst for the reaction. The hydrolysis of Lewisite by water involves the following equilibria (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20):…”

Section: Lewisitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cold aqueous media of pH s10.5 Lewisite decomposes as follows (5-21): CICH=CHAs(OH) 2 + OHeCle + HC=-CH + As(OH) 3 (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) The vesicant character of arsenicals such as Lewisite is not a property of the AsCl 2 group exclusively, since carefully prepared solutions of corresponding oxide or dihydroxide are equally vesicant. Lewisite reacts with sodium alkoxides to give derivatives that are volatile, vesicant liquids (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22) that hydrolyze irreversibly on contact with water:…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reaction with sodium mercaptides gives the analogous thioethers (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23), which are only slightly soluble in water and in general are hydrolyzed reversibly, giving toxic and sometimes vesicant solutions, although the equilibrium generally favors thioether formation (5-24):…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ClCH-CHAs(SSCNR 2 ) 2 S CICH-CHACI 2 + HSCH 2 CH(SH)CH 2 OH -CICH=IICHA(' > (5-26) Alkali hydrolyzes all of these compounds with the evolution of acetylene (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). Hydrogen peroxide causes decomposition of the ethers and thioethers in neutral or acid solution, giving free arsenic acids.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Veterans at risk: the health effects of mustard gas and Lewisite

1993

Choice Reviews Online

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Health outcomes of psychosocial stress within firefighters: A systematic review of the research landscape

Igboanugo

Bigelow

Mielke

2021

Journal of Occupational Health

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Background and Objectives Much of the research surrounding firefighter health has concerned the hazards intuitively associated with the occupation, such as physical, thermal, and chemical risks. However, an additional aspect of their work environment, psychosocial stressors, has begun to attract a growing level of attention. Work‐related psychosocial stress may best be described as mental and emotional strain caused by a combination of workplace events and characteristics, and the objective of our review was to identify the health outcomes associated with these stressors in firefighters. Methods A systematic review was performed of studies reporting on the psychosocial stressors and the associated health outcomes experienced by firefighters. Data sources included the MEDLINE, PsychInfo, and CINAHL databases. Results Twenty‐nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Upon analysis, we found that firefighters experienced a range of psychosocial stressors (including interpersonal conflict and concerns over organizational fairness) and observed that these stressors were associated with a number of health‐related outcomes that could be arranged into six areas: depression‐suicidality, non‐depressive mental health problems, burnout, alcohol use disorders, sleep quality, and physiological parameters and somatic disorders. Conclusion Our findings strongly suggest that work‐related psychosocial stressors can affect the health and well‐being of those in the fire service, and highlight that interventions meant to address these psychosocial risk factors should focus upon promoting self‐esteem, enhancing self‐efficacy, and strengthening social support.

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Occupational Health Concerns of Firefighting

Cited by 99 publications

References 70 publications

Biological monitoring of smoke exposure among wildland firefighters: A pilot study comparing urinary methoxyphenols with personal exposures to carbon monoxide, particular matter, and levoglucosan

Biological monitoring of smoke exposure among wildland firefighters: A pilot study comparing urinary methoxyphenols with personal exposures to carbon monoxide, particular matter, and levoglucosan

Veterans at risk: the health effects of mustard gas and Lewisite

Health outcomes of psychosocial stress within firefighters: A systematic review of the research landscape

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