Preliminary analyses of accumulation of carcinogenic contaminants on retired firefighter ensembles

Abstract

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is designed to protect firefighters from hazards encountered on the fire scene, including heat and products of combustion. Decontamination practices for firefighter turnout gear have been developed to remove combustion products and other contaminants from the fabric of structural firefighting ensembles (i.e., turnout or bunker gear). Chronic exposures to residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are a contributing cause of firefighter cancers. To identify and quantify residual contamination of PAH, samples were taken from two individual decommissioned structural firefighting ensembles and analyzed by layer (outer canvas shell, moisture barrier, and the thermal protective liner) for (1) textile integrity via field emission scanning electron microscopy and (2) quantity of PAH contamination by high-pressure liquid chromatography with ultraviolet/fluorescence detection. The results of these analyses show the presence of the PAH compounds pyrene (35% of the total mass of PAH), phenanthrene (21%), benzo(a)pyrene (14%), and benzo(a)anthracene (14%) which present a risk for dermal absorption. The data also revealed that PAH penetration through the layers of the firefighting ensemble was strongly inhibited by the moisture barrier layer.

Keywords:

• Dermal
• fabric
• PAH
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• textile
• turnout gear

Data availability statement

Analytical data are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology (FPST) Excellence Fund through the OSU Foundation which is supported by alumni for student support. JH was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH K01OH011891).