The occurrence of PAHs and flame-retardants in air and dust from Australian fire stations

Banks, Andrew P.W.; Engelsman, Michelle; He, Chang; Wang, Xianyu; Mueller, Jochen F.

doi:10.1080/15459624.2019.1699246

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…(2018) found higher levels of TDCPP, tri-n-butyl phosphate (TNBP), and tris(2-chloroisopropyl)phosphate (TCPP), in dust collected in 2015 from fire stations across the U.S., compared to levels measured in homes and other occupational settings (Shen et al 2018). Similarly, a study of Australian fire station dust found higher median OPFR levels in fire stations than from dust samples collected in homes and offices (Banks et al 2020). Firefighters who were on duty at the time of the sample collection had higher levels of two FR chemicals supporting evidence that being at work and potentially in the fire station increases their exposures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Similarly, FR-containing furniture may add to the toxic burden of fighting fires and translate to higher exposures among firefighters when they respond to fires. Studies have shown that fighting fires can contaminate firefighter gear, trucks, engines and equipment, bringing chemical exposures indoors (Banks et al 2020; Mayer et al 2019; Shen et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted October 7, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.06.20207498 doi: medRxiv preprint Australian fire station dust found higher median OPFR levels in fire stations than from 5 dust samples collected in homes and offices (Banks et al 2020). Firefighters who were 5 on duty at the time of the sample collection had higher levels of two FR chemicals 5 supporting evidence that being at work and potentially in the fire station increases their 5 exposures.…”

Section: Flame Retardant Levels and Predictors Of Exposurementioning

confidence: 96%

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Organophosphate and organohalogen flame-retardant exposure and thyroid hormone disruption in a cohort of female firefighters and office workers from San Francisco

Trowbridge

Gerona

McMaster

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Occupational exposures to flame retardants (FR), which are suspected endocrine disrupting compounds, may be of particular concern for firefighters as they are commonly found in consumer products and have been detected in fire station dust and firefighter gear. Objectives: The Women Workers Biomonitoring Collaborative is a community based participatory research study that sought to measure environmental chemicals relevant to firefighting and evaluate their effects on thyroid hormone levels. Methods: We measured 10 FR or their metabolites in urine of female firefighters and office workers from San Francisco: bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCPP), bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (BCEP), dibutyl phosphate (DBuP), dibenzyl phosphate (DBzP), di-p-cresyl phosphate (DpCP), di-o-cresyl phosphate (DoCP), 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoic acid (TBBA), tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA), 5-OH-BDE 47, and 5-OH-BDE 100. We assessed potential predictors of exposure levels and the association between FR exposures and thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Results: BDCPP, BCEP, and DBuP were the most commonly detected FRs, among all study participants, with intermediate BMI and college educated women having the highest levels, and Black women having higher BDCPP levels than White women. Firefighters had higher detection frequencies (DF) and exposure levels compared to office workers; median BDCPP levels were five times higher in firefighters than in office workers. Among firefighters, occupational activities were not significantly associated with FR levels, although position (i.e. officer and firefighter versus driver), being on-duty (versus off-duty) and assigned to the airport suggested a positive association with FR levels. Among firefighters, a doubling of BDCPP was associated with a 2.88% decrease (95%CI -5.28,-0.42) in T4. We did not observe significant associations between FR and T4 among office workers. Discussion: Firefighters had significantly higher exposures to FR compared to office workers, and we observed a negative association between BDCPP and thyroxine in firefighters. Future research should elucidate occupational sources of FR exposure and opportunities for exposure reduction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Flame Retardant Levels and Predictors Of Exposurementioning

confidence: 96%

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Organophosphate and organohalogen flame-retardant exposure and thyroid hormone disruption in a cohort of female firefighters and office workers from San Francisco

Trowbridge

Gerona

McMaster

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…FFs are exposed to a high concentration of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), among other pollutants. Several adverse health effects have been reported in the literature, including lack of oxygenation to organs and tissues (measured by the increase in exhaled CO after smoke exposure), impaired respiratory function or increased risk of cancer [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classification of Critical Levels of CO Exposure of Firefigthers through Monitored Heart Rate

Sebastião

Sorte

Fernandes

et al. 2021

Sensors

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Smoke inhalation poses a serious health threat to firefighters (FFs), with potential effects including respiratory and cardiac disorders. In this work, environmental and physiological data were collected from FFs, during experimental fires performed in 2015 and 2019. Extending a previous work, which allowed us to conclude that changes in heart rate (HR) were associated with alterations in the inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO), we performed a HR analysis according to different levels of CO exposure during firefighting based on data collected from three FFs. Based on HR collected and on CO occupational exposure standards (OES), we propose a classifier to identify CO exposure levels through the HR measured values. An ensemble of 100 bagged classification trees was used and the classification of CO levels obtained an overall accuracy of 91.9%. The classification can be performed in real-time and can be embedded in a decision fire-fighting support system. This classification of FF’ exposure to critical CO levels, through minimally-invasive monitored HR, opens the possibility to identify hazardous situations, preventing and avoiding possible severe problems in FF’ health due to inhaled pollutants. The obtained results also show the importance of future studies on the relevance and influence of the exposure and inhalation of pollutants on the FF’ health, especially in what refers to hazardous levels of toxic air pollutants.

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“…Laundering practices are ineffective in completely removing PAHs, OPFRs, and PB-DEs from firefighting uniforms [6][7][8][9]. It has been suggested that firefighting ensembles could potentially be a vector for exposure to firefighters, with storage conditions potentially determining the exposure pathway to firefighters [10,11]. It has also been shown that firefighting uniforms may subsequently contribute to elevated semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) concentrations in dust at the locations where this gear is stored [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off-Gassing of Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds from Fire-Fighters’ Uniforms in Private Vehicles—A Pilot Study

Banks

Wang

et al. 2021

IJERPH

Self Cite

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Firefighters’ uniforms become contaminated with a wide range of chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Laundering practices do not completely remove PAHs, OPFRs, and PBDEs from firefighting uniforms. This residual contamination of firefighting ensembles may be an ongoing source of exposure to firefighters. Firefighters are known to occasionally store firefighting ensembles in private vehicles. This study aimed to assess whether a firefighting uniform in a vehicle could act as a source for PAHs, OPFRs, and PBDEs to vehicle users. The shell layers of four laundered firefighting uniforms were sampled non-destructively. Three of these uniforms were heated in a laboratory oven (40, 60, and 80 °C) while the fourth was placed in a private vehicle on a summer day and off-gassing samples were collected from the uniforms. The off-gassing results for PAHs and OPFRs were relatively consistent between laboratory oven and the in-vehicle sample with ∑13 PAHs in off-gas ranging from 7800–23,000 ng uniform−1 day−1, while the ∑6 OPFRs off-gassed was an order of magnitude lower at 620–1600 ng uniform−1 day−1. The off-gassing results for PBDEs were much lower and less consistent between the experiments, which may reflect differences in uniform history. Currently, there is limited understanding of how PAHs, OPFRs, and PBDEs off-gassed from firefighting uniforms influence firefighter exposure to these chemicals. These findings suggest that firefighting ensembles off-gassing in private vehicles could be a relevant source of PAHs, OPFRs, and PBDEs that contributes to firefighters’ exposure and that this warrants further investigation.

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The occurrence of PAHs and flame-retardants in air and dust from Australian fire stations

Cited by 23 publications

References 36 publications

Organophosphate and organohalogen flame-retardant exposure and thyroid hormone disruption in a cohort of female firefighters and office workers from San Francisco

Organophosphate and organohalogen flame-retardant exposure and thyroid hormone disruption in a cohort of female firefighters and office workers from San Francisco

Classification of Critical Levels of CO Exposure of Firefigthers through Monitored Heart Rate

Off-Gassing of Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds from Fire-Fighters’ Uniforms in Private Vehicles—A Pilot Study

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