Differences in fine particle exposure and estimated pulmonary ventilation rate with respect to work tasks of wildland firefighters at prescribed burns: a repeated measures study.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adetona AM ; Adetona O ; Chartier RT ; Naeher LP ; Paulsen MH ; Rathbun SL ; Simpson CD
• Description:
  Wildland firefighters (WLFFs) are exposed to a mixture of chemicals found in wildland fire smoke and emissions from nonwildland-fuel smoke sources such as diesel. We investigated compositional differences in exposure to particulate matter and explored differences in ventilation rate and potential inhaled dose relative to the work tasks of WLFFs. Repeated measures on ten professional and two volunteer firefighters were collected on prescribed burn and nonburn days. Personal monitoring consisted of real-time and gravimetric fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and accelerometer measurements to estimate ventilation rate and potential dose of PM2.5. The fine particulate matter was analyzed for levoglucosan (LG) and light absorbing carbon as a surrogate for black carbon (BC). Breathing zone personal exposure concentrations of PM2.5, LG, BC, and CO were higher on burn days (P < 0.05). Differences in exposure concentrations were observed between burn day tasks (P < 0.05) with firefighters managing fire boundaries (holders) being exposed to higher CO and LG concentrations and less BC concentrations than those conducting lighting (lighters). While no statistical difference in PM2.5 exposure measures was observed between the two tasks, holders in the study tended to be exposed to higher PM2.5 concentrations (approx. 1.4×), while lighters tended to have more inhaled amounts of PM2.5 (approx. 1.3×). Our findings demonstrate possible diversity in the sources of particulate matter exposure at the fireline and suggest the potential importance of using dose as a metric of inhalation exposure in occupational or other settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Safety Wildfires
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Black Carbon; Exposure; Inhaled Dose; Levoglucosan; Light Absorbing Carbon; Particulate Matter; Wildland Firefighters Wildfires; Fire Fighters; Smoke Inhalation; Exposure Assessment; Particulates; Organic Compounds; Gravimetric Analysis; Breathing Zone; Inhalation Studies; Wildland Fire Smoke;
• ISSN:
  2398-7308
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Georgia ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065337
• Citation:
  Ann Work Expo Health 2022 Oct; 66(8):985-997
• Contact Point Address:
  Luke P. Naeher, Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
• Email:
  LNaeher@uga.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of Work Exposures and Health
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3dd9e1ed71754049b34ce1bf5b7a61f4f11a911624141f33bda702dda114b560bbebfa897d977e6af69436603b9658fe12807dfbf1251d0e6b1e45c15244d512
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248861/cdc_248861_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 779.37 KB ]