Characterization of exposure to air pollutants for workers in and around fires
(2024) In Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 21(12). p.878-894- Abstract
Firefighters can be occupationally exposed to a wide range of airborne pollutants during fire-extinguishing operations. The overall study aim was to characterize occupational exposure to smoke for several groups of workers responding to fires, with specific aims to determine the correlations between exposure markers and to biologically assess their systemic exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine. Personal exposure measurements of equivalent black carbon (eBC), elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), PAHs, lung deposited surface area (LDSA), and particle number concentration (PNC) of ultrafine particles were performed on firefighters, observers, and post-fire workers during... (More)
Firefighters can be occupationally exposed to a wide range of airborne pollutants during fire-extinguishing operations. The overall study aim was to characterize occupational exposure to smoke for several groups of workers responding to fires, with specific aims to determine the correlations between exposure markers and to biologically assess their systemic exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine. Personal exposure measurements of equivalent black carbon (eBC), elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), PAHs, lung deposited surface area (LDSA), and particle number concentration (PNC) of ultrafine particles were performed on firefighters, observers, and post-fire workers during firefighting exercises. Urine samples were collected before and after exposure and analyzed for PAH metabolites. Additional routes for PAH skin exposure were investigated by wipe sampling on defined surfaces: equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and vehicles. Among workers without PPE, observers generally had higher exposures than post-fire workers. The observers and post-fire workers had an occupational exposure to smoke measured e.g. as EC of 7.3 µg m−3 and 1.9 µg m−3, respectively. There was a good agreement between measurements of carbonaceous particles measured as EC from filters and as eBC with high time resolution, especially for the observers and post-fire workers. Ultrafine particle exposure measured as LDSA was two times higher for observers compared to the post-fire workers. The urinary levels of PAH metabolites were generally higher in firefighters and observers compared to post-fire workers. Investigation of PAH contamination on firefighters’ PPE revealed high PAH contamination on surfaces with frequent skin contact both before and after cleaning. Exposure to smoke can be assessed with several different exposure markers. For workers residing unprotected around fire scenes, there can be high peak exposures depending on their behavior concerning the smoke plume. Several workers had high urinary PAH metabolite concentrations even though they were exposed to low air concentrations of PAHs, indicating skin absorption of PAH as a plausible exposure route.
(Less)
- author
- Lovén, Karin
LU
; Hagvall, Lina
LU
; Rex, Johannes
LU
; Nilsson, Carina A.
; Malmborg, Vilhelm
LU
; Pagels, Joakim LU ; Strandberg, Bo LU and Hedmer, Maria LU
- organization
-
- Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University
- Genetic Occupational and Environmental Medicine (research group)
- LTH Profile Area: Aerosols
- LTH Profile Area: Nanoscience and Semiconductor Technology
- NanoLund: Centre for Nanoscience
- Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology
- Metalund
- MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system
- LTH Profile Area: The Energy Transition
- Applied Mass Spectrometry in Environmental Medicine (research group)
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Firefighters, forensic technicians, occupational exposure, ultrafine particles, urinary biomarkers, wipe sampling
- in
- Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
- volume
- 21
- issue
- 12
- pages
- 878 - 894
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85206882008
- pmid:39418654
- ISSN
- 1545-9624
- DOI
- 10.1080/15459624.2024.2406244
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
- id
- 92c5477d-eb65-4834-8ed6-dfe6310592ca
- date added to LUP
- 2024-11-06 08:07:20
- date last changed
- 2025-06-05 02:51:35
@article{92c5477d-eb65-4834-8ed6-dfe6310592ca, abstract = {{<p>Firefighters can be occupationally exposed to a wide range of airborne pollutants during fire-extinguishing operations. The overall study aim was to characterize occupational exposure to smoke for several groups of workers responding to fires, with specific aims to determine the correlations between exposure markers and to biologically assess their systemic exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urine. Personal exposure measurements of equivalent black carbon (eBC), elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>), PAHs, lung deposited surface area (LDSA), and particle number concentration (PNC) of ultrafine particles were performed on firefighters, observers, and post-fire workers during firefighting exercises. Urine samples were collected before and after exposure and analyzed for PAH metabolites. Additional routes for PAH skin exposure were investigated by wipe sampling on defined surfaces: equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and vehicles. Among workers without PPE, observers generally had higher exposures than post-fire workers. The observers and post-fire workers had an occupational exposure to smoke measured e.g. as EC of 7.3 µg m<sup>−3</sup> and 1.9 µg m<sup>−3</sup>, respectively. There was a good agreement between measurements of carbonaceous particles measured as EC from filters and as eBC with high time resolution, especially for the observers and post-fire workers. Ultrafine particle exposure measured as LDSA was two times higher for observers compared to the post-fire workers. The urinary levels of PAH metabolites were generally higher in firefighters and observers compared to post-fire workers. Investigation of PAH contamination on firefighters’ PPE revealed high PAH contamination on surfaces with frequent skin contact both before and after cleaning. Exposure to smoke can be assessed with several different exposure markers. For workers residing unprotected around fire scenes, there can be high peak exposures depending on their behavior concerning the smoke plume. Several workers had high urinary PAH metabolite concentrations even though they were exposed to low air concentrations of PAHs, indicating skin absorption of PAH as a plausible exposure route.</p>}}, author = {{Lovén, Karin and Hagvall, Lina and Rex, Johannes and Nilsson, Carina A. and Malmborg, Vilhelm and Pagels, Joakim and Strandberg, Bo and Hedmer, Maria}}, issn = {{1545-9624}}, keywords = {{Firefighters; forensic technicians; occupational exposure; ultrafine particles; urinary biomarkers; wipe sampling}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{12}}, pages = {{878--894}}, publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}}, series = {{Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene}}, title = {{Characterization of exposure to air pollutants for workers in and around fires}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2024.2406244}}, doi = {{10.1080/15459624.2024.2406244}}, volume = {{21}}, year = {{2024}}, }