LibGuides: Cancer and the Fire Service: Articles and Periodicals

Publications Freely Available at NIH.gov

Creation of a retrospective job-exposure matrix using surrogate measures of exposure for a cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Dahm, M. M., Bertke, S., Allee, S., & Daniels, R. D. (2015). Creation of a retrospective job-exposure matrix using surrogate measures of exposure for a cohort of US career firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. Occupational And Environmental Medicine, oemed-2014.

Exposure-response relationships for select cancer and non-cancer health outcomes in a cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950-2009)

Daniels, R. D., Bertke, S., Dahm, M. M., et al. (2015). Exposure-response relationships for select cancer and non-cancer health outcomes in a cohort of us firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950-2009). Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 72(10), 699-706. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102671

Mortality and cancer incidence in a pooled cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950-2009)

Robert D, D., Travis L, K., James H, Y., et al. (2014). Mortality and cancer incidence in a pooled cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950-2009). Occupational And Environmental Medicine, (6), 388.

Assessment of Ambient Exposures Firefighters Encounter while at the Fire Station: An Exploratory Study

Sparer, E. H., Prendergast, D. P., Apell, J. N., et al. (2017). Assessment of ambient exposures firefighters encounter while at the fire station: An exploratory study. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(10), 1017-1023. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000001114

Systemic Exposure to PAHs and Benzene in Firefighters Suppressing Controlled Structure Fires

Fent, K. W., Eisenberg, J., Snawder, J., Sammons, D., Pleil, J. D., Stiegel, M. A., Dalton, J. (2014). Systemic Exposure to PAHs and Benzene in Firefighters Suppressing Controlled Structure Fires. Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 58(7), 830-845. http://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/meu036

Magazines and Periodicals

How Modern Furniture Endangers Firefighters, The Atlantic
Consumer goods are increasingly made of synthetic materials and coatings. The carcinogens they give off when they burn could be driving high cancer rates among first responders.
Cancer and the Fire Service, Fire Rescue Magazine
This is a story about a fire chief who gets "it." With his crew member battling cancer in the hospital, the challenge of keeping his people safe from all hazards stares him squarely in the face. So he issues a directive reminding personnel to wash their PPE to reduce their risk of exposure to trapped products of combustion. The response is underwhelming at best. The chief realizes that perhaps the members did not clearly understand the intent of his memo, so he provides clarifying language-"Wash your damn gear!"
Leadership Guide to Cancer, Fire Rescue Magazine
"Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is devastating in all rights and should not be compounded by a lack of empathy from a department leader, supervisor, or co-workers. Most organizations and supervisors are not prepared for dealing with a firefighter who has received a cancer diagnosis."
Cancer and the Fire Service, Firehouse Magazine
There has been much debate and conflicting evidence regarding whether firefighters have a higher risk of developing cancer than the general public. The reasons for this is are many: cause and effect is difficult to prove in medical studies, cancer is a collection of various different diseases and subtypes, and performing a study researching cancer for a single group across the country is technically difficult.
Firefighter cancer research: What's next, FireRescue 1
"Finding scientific proof linking firefighting activities and certain cancers is a long, difficult process; while more research is needed, the data we have can guide prevention."
Fire Service Occupational Cancer: The Elephant in the Room, Fire Engineering
"We have all witnessed within the fire service the heightened focus on addressing the occupational threat of carcinogen exposures. However, the “elephant” in the room is the magnitude of this scourge. Data compiled by the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) reports that cancer has caused 61 percent of career firefighter line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) since 2002."
Firefighter Health Screenings, Crackyl Magazine
"Screenings detect early health changes before symptoms appear." Six health screenings for firefighters are described.

Exploring Variation in Knowledge and Practice of Post-Fire Suppression Contamination Control Procedures Among New Jersey Volunteer Fire Departments: A Qualitative Study

Black, T. M., Brown, L., Fent, K. W., et al (2022) Exploring variation in knowledge and practice of post-fire suppression contamination control procedures among New Jersey Volunteer fire departments: A qualitative study (2022). International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management, 27-39.

Firefighter Cancer Prevention & Mental Health Awareness by Fire Engineering

Journals

PPE and Fire Service Gear Cleaning Validation: Research projects from NFPA
"This video shows one technology the project is studying to disinfect gear in the field for bio-aerosol contamination like COVID-19."
January Dedicated as Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month
"The month-long campaign includes safety stand downs, factsheets, podcasts, survivor stories, and training briefs. These materials focus on the scope of the cancer problem, prevention, best practices, survivorship, leadership tactics to encourage prevention, and skills to help departments reduce their risk of occupational cancer."

News & Research

Firefighters and cancer, NFPA
"Firefighting is a dangerous profession, and a growing body of research and data shows the contributions that job-related exposures have in chronic illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease."
FireRescue1 Topics: Cancer
"The cancer topic focuses on one of the biggest issues afflicting the fire service at all levels: cancer. The topic includes a variety of news, information, videos and feature articles connecting the dots between firefighting and cancer."
FireRescue1 Topics: Cancer Awareness
"The topic includes a variety of news, information, videos and feature articles connecting the dots between firefighting and cancer."
Cancer Is the Biggest Killer of America's Firefighters
By Tom Costello, NBC News
Cancer alarm at the firehouse
"Harvard researchers have teamed up with local fire departments to tackle a health care mystery: How does the firehouse itself increase cancer risk among firefighters?"
Long-Term Health Effects of the 9/11 Disaster
"The toll of 9/11 includes the continued impact of accumulated health effects among those who were directly exposed to either the air pollution or re-suspended material that resulted from the collapse of the two WTC towers, and physical injuries or psychological trauma. ... Although the majority of the articles reprepsent rescue, recovery, and clean-up workers (12), some other non-rescue recovery groups included in the special issue are residents of Chinatown, just 10 blocks from ground zero (Kung et al. 2019), and other residents of lower Manhattan (Antao et al. 2019)." (p. 1)