Lead contamination among Paris Fire Brigade firefighters who fought the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris

Biomonitoring of firefighting forces: a review on biomarkers of exposure to health-relevant pollutants released from fires

Occupational exposure as a firefighter has recently been classified as a carcinogen to humans by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Biomonitoring has been increasingly used to characterize exposure of firefighting forces to contaminants. However, available data are dispersed and information on the most relevant and promising biomarkers in this context of firefighting is missing. This review presents a comprehensive summary and critical appraisal of existing biomarkers of exposure including volatile organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, several other persistent other organic pollutants as well as heavy metals and metalloids detected in biological fluids of firefighters attending different fire scenarios. Urine was the most characterized matrix, followed by blood. Firefighters exhaled breath and saliva were poorly evaluated. Overall, biological levels of compounds were predominantly increased in firefighters after participation in firefighting activities. Biomonitoring studies combining different biomarkers of exposure and of effect are currently limited but exploratory findings are of high interest. However, biomonitoring still has some unresolved major limitations since reference or recommended values are not yet established for most biomarkers. In addition, half-lives values for most of the biomarkers have thus far not been defined, which significantly hampers the design of studies. These limitations need to be tackled urgently to improve risk assessment and support implementation of better more effective preventive strategies.

Exposure to fire smoke in fire training structures: A prospective observational study

The aim of this study was to assess the level of exposure to and contamination by smoke within a population of firefighter instructors. We performed a prospective observational study from September 17 to September 26, 2018, using environmental samples and urinary biomarker analysis. Occupational exposure limits (OELs) were never exceeded, except for carbon monoxide for the fire attack training chamber and formaldehyde and carbon monoxide for the fire box. As regards to urinary biomarkers, we observed that 1OHP and 1-naphtol did accumulate. The pre-post analysis showed an acute exposure exceeding the BRVs of benzene, 1-hydroxypyrene and naphtol, except for 3-benzo[a]pyrene which was undetectable in half of the cases. Even if values were reassuring, an effort could be made to improve the working conditions and reduce contamination by rethinking the respiratory protection and improving PPE quality.