Exposure to Particulate Matter and Estimation of Volatile Organic Compounds Across Wildland Firefighter Job Tasks

Details

• Personal Author:
  Apel EC ; Chen I-C ; DeMott P ; Domitrovich JW ; Fischer EV ; Hills AJ ; Hornbrook RS ; Jarnot A ; Navarro KM ; O'Dell K ; Sen P ; West MR
• Description:
  Wildland firefighters are exposed to smoke-containing particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while suppressing wildfires. From 2015 to 2017, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a field study collecting breathing zone measurements of PM4 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 4 µm) on wildland firefighters from different crew types and while performing various fire suppression tasks on wildfires. Emission ratios of VOC (parts per billion; ppb): PM1 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 µm; mg/m3) were calculated using data from a separate field study conducted in summer 2018, the Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption, and Nitrogen (WE-CAN) Campaign. These emission ratios were used to estimate wildland firefighter exposure to acrolein, benzene, and formaldehyde. Results of this field sampling campaign reported that exposure to PM4 and VOC varied across wildland firefighter crew type and job task. Type 1 crews had greater exposures to both PM4 and VOCs than type 2 or type 2 initial attack crews, and wildland firefighters performing direct suppression had statistically higher exposures than those performing staging and other tasks (mean differences = 0.82 and 0.75 mg/m3; 95% confidence intervals = 0.38-1.26 and 0.41-1.08 mg/m3, respectively). Of the 81 personal exposure samples collected, 19% of measured PM4 exposures exceeded the recommended National Wildland Fire Coordinating Group occupational exposure limit (0.7 mg/m3). Wildland fire management should continue to find strategies to reduce smoke exposures for wildland firefighters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Firefighters Fires Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Volatile Organic Compounds Wildfires
• Keywords:
  Airborne Particulates Air Pollutants Air Quality Monitoring Author Keywords: Smoke Firefighter Fire Fighters Hazardous Air Pollutants Occupational Exposure Particle Aerodynamics Smoke Inhalation VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds Wildfire

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• ISSN:
  0013-936X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; Maryland ; Montana ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  17
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063580
• Citation:
  Environ Sci Technol 2021 Sep; 55(17):11795-11804
• Contact Point Address:
  Kathleen M. Navarro, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, Ohio 45213, United States
• Email:
  knavarro@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Science and Technology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6a0ae0685779be39ef57b6a429a90212a02f50e2ef61b73145efd24b693fc83d4cd8b64fb4cbb6bf059cb83019a2d0f3efa66ae44d9fbea0d2308a182edbd11b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222164/cdc_222164_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.91 MB ]