Firefighters' Urinary Concentrations of VOC Metabolites after Controlled-Residential and Training Fire Responses

Details

• Journal Article:
  Int J Hyg Environ Health
• Personal Author:
  Fent, Kenneth W. ; Mayer, Alexander C. ; Toennis, Christine ; Sammons, Deborah ; Robertson, Shirley ; Chen, I-Chen ; Bhandari, Deepak ; Blount, Benjamin C. ; Kerber, Stephen ; Smith, Denise L. ; Horn, Gavin P.
• Description:
  Introduction:
  
  Firefighters are exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during structural fire responses and training fires, several of which (e.g., benzene, acrolein, styrene) are known or probable carcinogens. Exposure studies have found that firefighters can absorb chemicals like benzene even when self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) are worn, suggesting that dermal absorption contributes to potentially harmful exposures. However, few studies have characterized VOC metabolites in urine from firefighters.
  
  Objectives:
  
  We quantified VOC metabolites in firefighters’ urine following live firefighting activity across two field studies.
  
  Methods:
  
  In two separate controlled field studies, spot urine was collected before and 3 hours after firefighters and firefighter students responded to simulated residential and training fires. Urine was also collected from instructors from the training fire study before the first and 3 hours after the last training scenario for each day (instructors led three training scenarios per day). Samples were analyzed for metabolites of VOCs to which firefighters may be exposed.
  
  Results:
  
  In the residential fire study, urinary metabolites of xylenes (2MHA), toluene (BzMA), and styrene (MADA) increased significantly (at 0.05 level) from pre- to post-fire. In the training fire study, MADA concentrations increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for both firefighter students and instructors. Urinary concentrations of benzene metabolites (MUCA and PhMA) increased significantly from pre- to post-fire for instructors, while metabolites of xylenes (3MHA+4MHA) and acrolein (3HPMA) increased significantly for firefighter students. The two highest MUCA concentrations measured post-shift from instructors exceeded the BEI of 500 μg/g creatinine.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Some of the metabolites that were significantly elevated post-fire are known or probable human carcinogens (benzene, styrene, acrolein); thus, exposure to these compounds should be eliminated or reduced as much as possible through the hierarchy of controls. Given stringent use of SCBA, it appears that dermal exposure contributes in part to the levels measured here.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Acrolein Air Pollutants, Occupational Benzene Carcinogens Firefighters Fires Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Styrenes Volatile Organic Compounds Xylenes

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Benzene; Styrene; Acrolein; Urine; Biomarker; Fire Fire Fighters; VOCs; Volatile Organic Compounds; Urinalysis; Biomarkers; Dermal Absorption; Exposure Assessment; Hazard Controls; Hierarchy Of Controls;
• Source:
  Int J Hyg Environ Health. 242:113969
• Pubmed ID:
  35421664
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9969558
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Illinois ; Maryland ; New York ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering ; HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  25 pdf pages
• Volume:
  242
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064995
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acrolein (CAS RN 107-02-8) ; Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Styrene (CAS RN 100-42-5) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a12b7a97e2236eba6fbda4b9dc4bd36cf76e461c1517080402f24d31318db4f803089f5206c1905b0ec0a08880164e103f09e7abce2eea68d02b0b3866a0f7c8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/125204/cdc_125204_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 821.08 KB ]