The Volunteer Firefighter, May 2009

The Volunteer Firefighter

May 2009

The Volunteer Firefighter

An Alert for Women Firefighters: Protection is Prevention

Using proper protection can minimize exposure to chemicals that may affect the risk of breast cancer

By Suzanne M. Snedeker, Ph.D.

During firefighting activities, there can be exposure to chemicals that may affect the risk of breast cancer. However, there are strategies to prevent exposure to these chemicals.

I am the Associate Director of “BCERF,” Cornell University’s Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors. For the past 13 years, our program has been devoted to evaluating
the latest science on chemical exposures that may affect breast cancer risk, and translating this information so people can use it at home and in their workplace for cancer prevention.

In the past year, we have collaborated with Nellie Brown, Director of the Cornell Workplace Health and Safety Programs, to distill information on what is known about chemical exposures encountered in firefighting and the risk of breast cancer. We have produced a brochure called the “BCERF Alert for Women Firefighters” on chemical exposures encountered in different types of firefighting activities, from flaming combustion (knockdown) in typical structural fires to overhaul and fire investigation activities. We also have developed a poster with the “Prevention is Protection” message.

While there are many risk factors for breast cancer, much of breast cancer risk is unexplained. Most breast cancers are not due to family history. Over 80% of all women with breast cancer
do not have a family member with this disease. Some researchers have found that over 70% of breast cancer risk may be due to factors that are not inherited, but that are due to factors in our
environment. Exposure to certain chemicals has been identified as a possible risk factor for breast cancer. Exposure to some of these chemicals may occur in firefighting activities.

Our “Alert for Women Firefighters” brochure is designed to help women firefighters understand how they may be exposed to these chemicals of concern in their work, and encourages everyone to use proper personal protective equipment to minimize
exposures.

Our main message is: protection is prevention. One of the primary ways chemicals of concern enter the body is from breathing them into the lungs during firefighting activities. That
is why properly fitting Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) needs to be worn from arrival at the scene to completion of any firefighting activity. Many times, firefighters put on gear too late, and remove it too soon. Personal protective equipment, especially SCBA, needs to be worn at all phases of firefighting.

Even overheating, before an active flame is seen, can result in release of chemicals of concern when certain paints and polyurethane foams start to “decompose” when they breakdown
due to overheating.

Many structural materials that make up residential and commercial buildings over the years have changed. For instance, the chemical benzene can be released by many materials, from a
smoldering mattress, to the melting and burning of plastics in kitchen and office appliances. Benzene can also be released from the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) coating used on electrical wires and even from wallpaper containing this plastic.

Chemicals are not only encountered during the active phase of fighting a fire (knockdown), but also during overhaul, salvage, and fire investigation activities. For instance, many chemicals of
concern continue to off-gas long after a fire is put out. Some chemicals settle and stick to the surface of masonry and concrete. Overhaul activities such as pulling apart walls, ceilings and
floors, or removing furniture to find hidden fires, as well as fire investigation activities can all result in exposure to chemicals of concern.

Chemicals can also be encountered in fighting non-structural fires, such as forest and brush fires, oil fires and tire fires, and also in fire training exercises.

To find out more, please read our brochure. Both English and Spanish versions are available online. A small poster on our brochure can also be downloaded from our Cornell websites as well as from the Fire Service Women of New York State website. Please feel free to print it and post it on your fire department’s bulletin board.

We would like to thank the many firefighters who provided input into the development of the BCERF Alert brochure and our poster, and hope you will circulate this information to your
emergency services colleagues, including police and EMTs.

Remember, protection is prevention. Wear your SCBA!

Find the HTML-text (English and Spanish) and PDF version (English) of the “BCERF Alert for Women Firefighters” brochure and PDF of the “Protection is Prevention” poster at:

www.fswnys.org/fswnys_news.html

author.ilr.cornell.edu/healthSafety/research/Cancer/Fire08.html

envirocancer.cornell.edu/learning/alert/fire08.cfm

Suzanne Snedeker, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Translational Research in the Cornell University Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors. A toxicologist
and cancer biologist by training, Suzanne translates the latest scientific information on the cancer risk of chemicals found in the home and workplace into educational resources for cancer
prevention.