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By Gary Giacomo
Exposure to wildland fire smoke by firefighters has been associated with acute health effects, such as declines in lung function and increases in inflammation, and possible chronic health effects, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.
New research on wildland firefighter inhalation exposures was published last month as part of the National Institute of Occupational Health’s (NIOSH’s) two-year Wildland Firefighter Exposure and Health Effects (WFFEHE) Study, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior.
This research describes the results of a mid-season exposure assessment to characterize wildland firefighters’ exposure to air contaminants while conducting operations at a wildfire incident.
Samples for this exposure assessment were collected over three days in August 2019 during the Cove Creek Fire at the Salmon Challis National Forest in east-central Idaho. An Interagency Hotshot Crew (IHC) of 19 federally employed wildland firefighters participated in the study.
Since the sample size for this assessment was small, findings cannot be generalized to all wildland firefighters. However, the assessment was informative because repeated measures were taken while the crewmembers performed a variety of tasks and roles, including preparing firelines, conducting a firing operation to create a fuel break, and conducting mop up operations. The samples taken during these activities provided insights into the specific activities that contributed to firefighters’ exposures.
To learn more about this assessment, see the full article published in the October 2023 issue of Annals of Work Exposures and Health.
To learn more about the broader WFFEHE Study, check out the 5-minute video overview from the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (WFLLC), filmed on site with the crewmembers who participated in the study. A detailed description of the WFFEHE Study’s rationale, design, and methods was published in Annals of Work Exposures and Health in 2022. NIOSH will update its webpage for the WFFEHE study as additional findings are published.