Association of firefighting exposures with lung function using a novel job exposure matrix (JEM)

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Occup Environ Med
• Personal Author:
  Goldfarb, David G. ; Prezant, David J. ; Zeig-Owens, Rachel ; Hall, Charles B. ; Schwartz, Theresa ; Liu, Yang ; Kavouras, Ilias G.
• Description:
  Objectives. ; Characterization of firefighters’ exposures to dangerous chemicals in smoke from non-wildfire incidents, directly through personal monitoring, and indirectly from work-related records, is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between smoke particle exposures (P) and pulmonary function. ; Methods. ; The study period spanned from January 2010 through September 2021. Routine firefighting particle exposures was estimated using fire incident characteristics, response data, and emission factors from a novel job exposure matrix. Linear mixed effects modelling was employed to estimate changes in pulmonary function as measured by one-second Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1). Models controlled for age, race/ethnicity, height, smoking, and weight. ; Results. ; Every 1000 kg P was associated with 13 mL lower FEV1 (β=−13.34; 95% CI=−13.98, −12.70) over the entire 12-year follow-up period. When analyzing exposures within 3 months before PFT measurements, 1000 kg P was associated with 27 mL lower FEV1 (β=−26.87; 95% CI=−34.54, −19.20). When evaluating P estimated within 3 months of a pulmonary function test (PFT), stronger associations were observed among those most highly exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster (β=−12.90; 95% CI=−22.70, −2.89); the association of cumulative exposures was similar for both highly and less highly exposed individuals. ; Discussion. ; Smoke particle exposures were observed to have modest short- and long-term associations with pulmonary function, particularly in those who, previously, had high levels of WTC exposure. Future work examining the association between P and pulmonary function among non-WTC exposed firefighters will be essential for disentangling the effects of aging, routine firefighting, and WTC-exposures.
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Lung
  • Forced Expiratory Volume
  • Smoking
  • Smoke
  • Firefighters
  • September 11 Terrorist Attacks
• Source:
  Occup Environ Med. 81(2):84-91
• Pubmed ID:
  38233128
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11267455
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  75D30122C15179/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; 75D30122C15521/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  81
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/159396/cdc_159396_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 868.42 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:eba45ca670c965a1beb4ff4b24f7848008d81eec54aa089871a83dca107972b24c780c59835ebf0b89b985c1c2b692b725bf40c2877736d66c161963cf69519d