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Publication
Firefighters´occupational exposure and health: Contribution from biomonitoring assays
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Abstract(s)
Firefighters are daily exposed to various pollutants during their occupational activities, including particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified firefighting as carcinogenic to humans. Currently, studies characterizing Portuguese firefighters are limited. This work characterizes the exposure of firefighters to PAHs present in PM in different fire station environments: vehicle garage, personal protective equipment (PPE) storage rooms, and common areas, as well as the concentrations of PAHs metabolites (OHPAHs) in firefighters' urine after fighting a controlled forest fire. In the fire station environment, the total concentration of PM-PAHs was 61.248 ng/m³, with most being fine particles (43.956 ng/m³), followed by ultrafine (12.952 ng/m³), and coarse (4.339 ng/m³). The total median of PAHs in PM was highest in the common area (0.929 ng/m³), followed by the garage (0.808 ng/m³) and PPE’s storage room (0.444 ng/m³). PAHs with 2-3 aromatic rings were predominant (64.7-88.8% of total PAHs), with acenaphthylene being the most abundant PAH (0.187-0.713 ng/m³). Carcinogenic PAHs accounted for 14.6-48.3% of the total PAHs, being most abundant in the PPE’s storage room. OHPAHs concentrations in urine gradually increased after firefighters participated in firefighting (1.2468 μmol/mol creatinine versus 1.6939 μmol/mol creatinine versus 2.5627 μmol/mol creatinine). Smokers had higher OHPAHs concentrations than non-smokers (2.3461 μmol/mol creatinine versus 1.6253 μmol/mol creatinine versus 3.0364 μmol/mol creatinine). 1-Hydroxynaphthalene+1-Hydroxyacenaphthene and 2-Hydroxyfluorene were the most abundant metabolites.
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Keywords
Firefighters Occupational exposure Air quality Particulate matter (PM) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)