The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), in partnership with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), released Respiratory Diseases and the Fire Service, an eight-plus-year study on the long-term effects and post-exposure mitigation of firefighters’ occupational respiratory exposure. The report can assist chiefs in recognizing and quantifying the impact of respiratory exposure, said Bill Troup, USFA fire program specialist.

“The report had nothing to do with 9/11, believe it or not,” Troup said. “We had fires throughout the country where many of the responders who went to those incidents started getting respiratory diseases. It seemed to be happening over and over, and all of it was anecdotal. So the USFA began studying the issue in the late ‘90s.”

Respiratory diseases remain a significant health issue for firefighters and emergency responders, as well as for civilians. More than 35 million Americans are living with chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, according to the American Respiratory Association. Such diseases in firefighters are the result of breathing toxic smoke, fumes, biological agents and particulate matter on the job, the report stated.

“We want to educate the fire service about respiratory disease — again, literally, a whole family of respiratory diseases firefighters are susceptible to,” Troup said. “The report covers all facets of respiratory disease.”

The report said variability in exposures among firefighters can be great; however, a number of exposures commonly are found in many fire scenarios. For example, common combustion products encountered by fire fighters that present respiratory disease hazards include acrylonitrile, asbestos, arsenic, benzene and other polycyclic hydrocarbons, cadmium, chlorophenols, chromium, diesel fumes, carbon monoxide, dioxins, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, orthotoluide, polychlorinated biphenyls and vinyl chloride. Also, findings from firefighters monitored during the overhaul phase of structural fires indicates that short-term exposure levels are exceeded for acrolein, benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide as well as soot and particulates.

In addition, Troup said firefighters often are exposed in their fire stations to significant levels of diesel particulate from fire apparatus.

“Things you may have never thought of cause respiratory disease,” he said. “The report shows the importance of using of PPE and having annual physicals,” Troup said. “But if you have someone that has a critical respiratory disease, an annual physical may not be adequate.”