Chemical Exposure and Cancer Risk Among Fire Fighters Examined
PRESS RELEASE—BLUE HILL, Me. —The chemicals in our homes may be threatening the health and lives of our fire fighters. Along with the obvious dangers of fighting structural fires, there is mounting evidence that chemicals released from burning materials put US fire fighters a high risk for multiple cancers.
Dr. Susan Shaw, an environmental/public health scientist and the Director/Founder of the Marine Environmental Research Institute (will present ““Is Fire fighting Carcinogenic? Chemical Exposure and Cancer Risk Among Fire Fighters” in the concluding talk of the Institute’s 2014 environmental lecture series.
The event is sponsored by Island Heritage Trust and will take place at St. Brendan’s Parish Hall 627 North Deer Isle Rd (Rt. 15) on Wednesday September 24 at 5:30 pm with a reception for the speaker to follow. The talk is free and open to the public with a special invitation extended to area fire fighters.
Dr. Shaw’s 2013 investigation of California fire fighters generated the first clear evidence that the burning of flame-retarded furniture, plastics, and other materials during a fire releases large amounts of cancer-causing by-products into the smoke and dust that firefighters cannot avoid inhaling, ingesting, and absorbing through their skin – both while on the job and after, during cleanup and through contact with their contaminated uniforms.
Cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths among fire fighters today, and they suffer from elevated rates of multiple cancers including prostate, testicular and bladder cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, adenocarcinoma of the lung, and colon cancer, among others.
Dr. Shaw’s California pilot study laid the groundwork for her upcoming nationwide study of chemical exposure and cancer risk among U.S. fire fighters. The study has enrolled fire fighters from Portland, ME and Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN and will include fire fighters from at least one other large U.S. municipality.
“The National Fire Fighter Cancer Study has received strong endorsements from the IAFF and the Professional Fire Fighters of Maine, as well as bilateral support from Maine’s congressional delegation”, explained Dt. Shaw.
Flame retardants are present by law in many consumer household items to delay ignition if they catch on fire, in spite of evidence that they are not effective in retarding fire. The pose health risks to all of us because they act as endocrine disruptors that mimic hormones and are linked not only to increased risks of cancer but also to lower IQs, lower birth weights in children, and reduced fertility and obesity, among other serious problems.
Burning flame retardants are a threat to firefighters, who are developing multiple cancers but there are also dangers for people sitting on foam-stuffed furniture. Retardants are released as dust from the foam and accumulate on the floor.
Maine has been at the forefront of eliminating the most dangerous flame retardants, California has passed new laws permitting flame-retardant free furniture and now New York is proposing anti-flame retardant legislation. On September 14, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a bill that would restrict the use of certain flame retardants in children’s products and residential upholstered furniture.
“I applaud Senator Schumer’s bill as a critically important effort to ensure that fire fighters – and all Americans – are protected from exposure to harmful flame retardant chemicals,” said Dr. Shaw.