Lung function measures following simulated wildland firefighter exposures

ABSTRACT

Across the world, biomass smoke is a major source of air pollution and is linked with a variety of adverse health effects. This is particularly true in the western U.S. where wood smoke from wildland forest fires are a significant source of PM_2.5. Wildland firefighters are impacted as they experience elevated PM_2.5 concentrations over extended periods of time, often occurring during physical exertion. Various epidemiological studies have investigated wood smoke impacts on human health, including occupational field exposures experienced by wildland firefighters. As there are numerous challenges in carrying out these field studies, having the ability to research the potential health impacts to this occupational cohort in a controlled setting would provide important information that could be translated to the field setting.

To this end, we have carried out a simulated wildland firefighter exposure study in a wood smoke inhalation facility. Utilizing a randomized crossover trial design, we exposed 10 participants once to clean filtered-air, 250 µg/m³, and 500 µg/m³ wood stove-generated wood smoke PM_2.5. Participants exercised on a treadmill at an absolute intensity designed to simulate wildland firefighting for 1.5 hr. In addition to measured PM_2.5 smoke concentrations, mean levels of CO₂, CO, and % relative humidity were continuously monitored and recorded and were representative of occupational “real-world” exposures. Pulmonary function was measured at three time points: before, immediately after, and 1-hr post-exposure. Although there were some reductions in FVC, FEV₁, and FVC:FEV₁ measures, results of the spirometry testing did not show significant changes in lung function. The development of this wood smoke inhalational facility provides a platform to further address unique research questions related to wood smoke exposures and associated adverse health effects.

KEYWORDS:

• Firefighting
• inhalation
• smoke
• spirometry
• wildland
• wood

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jed Syrenne, Britton Postma, Matthew Dorton, Kyle Cochrane, Emily Simpson, and Laura Porisch for data collection efforts. We are also grateful to Leon Washut and the Washut Endowment for Graduate Student Support in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Montana, as well as the study participants for the considerable time and effort put into this investigation.

Funding

This research was supported by NCRR (COBRE P20RR 017670). Additional support provided by NIGMS 1U54GM104944.