Firefighters have higher than average cancer rates, and while their exposure to carcinogens during fires is well known, a new study suggests exposures in fire stations contribute to their excess cancer risk, too.
"Firefighters spend large portions of their shift waiting for calls in a station, during which they can be exposed to diesel exhaust from idling trucks (which is a known carcinogen) and off-gassing from contaminated post-fire gear (which may be contaminated with a variety of known and/or possible carcinogens)," researchers point out in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Several studies in recent years have found that firefighters have elevated risks for cancers of the lungs, skin, esophagus, brain, kidney and prostate.
"We know about the chemicals, heat and stress in the field, but what's left out is the chronic low-level exposure at the fire station during day-to-day business," lead study author Dr. Emily Sparer of Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston told Reuters Health by phone.