2025-01-10:  DOES Anybody Care ?  AHJ’s ?  Fire Service Administrations ?  Civil Society ?

Frontline Firefighters (and their long-term Health) are severely ill-treated as a disposable asset in far too many societies around the world … a shameful reality … completely and utterly unacceptable !!

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Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) facilitates the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

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Resilience: The ability to function reliably during normal conditions, to withstand, adapt to or absorb unusual disturbance, disruption or damage, and thereafter to quickly return to an enhanced state of function.

Does it not make the utmost sense, therefore … if there is a Fire in a #Building or #Facility … that healthy, disciplined, expertly trained … and properly equipped, protected and resourced (under competent leadership and management) … #Firefighters would arrive quickly at the #FireScene and effectively extinguish the #Fire before it causes too much damage to property and harm to people … thus enabling the rapid and economically-efficient re-commencement of that building’s / facility’s functioning ??

Firefighters are an Invaluable Social Asset in a Resilient Built Environment !

Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building Fire Codes

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THE GRENFELL TOWER FRONTLINE FIREFIGHTERS

In its January 2025 issue, the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (JOEM) published the following Paper :

Grenfell Tower Fire – Toxic Effluents and Assessment of Firefighters’ Health Impacts

by Anna A. Stec, PhD ; David A. Purser, PhD ; and T. Richard Hull, PhD.

[ Click Title Above – PDF File, 175 Kb ]

Objective: This study assesses the health symptoms and longer-term health outcomes of Firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower Fire in June 2017.

Methods: All available data sources were analysed, including databases published by the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, the Firefighter Cancer and Disease Registry, incident logs, and sickness reports up to 3 years post-fire.

Results: More than three times as many firefighters who reported exposure to smoke during the fire also reported digestive and respiratory diseases following the fire, compared with those not reporting exposure to smoke.  Other more complex relationships are reported among smoke exposure, immediate health symptoms, and longer-term health outcomes.

Conclusions: The incident’s urgency led many professional firefighters to operate without Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE), resulting in debilitating health effects.

Paper Introduction …

Recently, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ( https://www.iarc.who.int ) classified the firefighting occupation as Carcinogenic to Humans – Group 1.  Studies show that the incidence and mortality of cancers and other diseases among firefighters are higher compared with the population they serve.  Recent data from UK Studies revealed that more than 4% of surveyed firefighters have received a cancer diagnosis.

Furthermore, the age-specific cancer rate was up to 323% higher for firefighters aged 35 to 39 years, when compared with the general population.

Firefighter exposure to fire effluents occurs through different phases of fire intervention (e.g. attack, knockdown) and in firefighters’ work environments, such as fire stations, vehicles, and firefighter turnout gear.  These residues may be inhaled or ingested via hand-to-mouth contact, depending on hygiene practices after firefighting.  Moreover, they have been detected on firefighters’ skin due to gear penetration, contact with contaminated gear, or contact with exposed skin areas such as the face and neck.

With the exception of the Fire Department of New York World Trade Centre Health Programme ( https://www.fdnywtcprogram.org ), there is no data on firefighters’ health symptoms from major building fires.  In this investigation, relationships have been identified between various long-term exposures to toxicants from fire and different health disorders.  For instance, exposure to fire effluents such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene oxide, and formaldehyde has been linked to myeloid leukaemia.  Similarly, prostate cancer has been associated with exposure to benzene and styrene.

Inhaling fire effluents such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide results in hypoxic stress, forcing the heart to exert extra effort during firefighters’ physical stress.  Also, inhalation and absorption into the bloodstream of ultra-fine soot particles enhance atherosclerosis and thrombosis.  Both effects can lead to cardiovascular diseases.  Exposure to asbestos, silica, and inorganic dust through inhalation is also believed to contribute to firefighters’ heightened risk of pulmonary diseases.

There is mounting evidence from both human and animal studies indicating that inhalation of air pollutants (carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, etc.) can also increase the risk of neurological diseases including neurodegenerative health and cognitive impairment.  Furthermore, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter have been linked to adverse respiratory outcomes.  The combined effects of frequent dehydration and chronic exposure to fire effluents may also synergistically damage the kidneys.  Certain metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead can adversely affect multiple bodily systems, including the gastrointestinal tract; haematopoietic, cardiovascular, central and peripheral nervous systems; kidneys; and immune and reproductive systems, potentially leading to cancers.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry ( https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk ) was instructed to examine evidence relating to the circumstances in which 72 Victims lost their lives.  It was not instructed to consider any short and long-term health effects of the firefighters / other emergency responders, survivors of the fire who escaped from the Tower … or residents who lived, or still live, within the vicinity of the Tower.  The aim of this study was to collect and evaluate all available data from the Grenfell Fire, assessing firefighters’ self-reported exposure to fire smoke and heat, and physiological and toxicological health symptoms and outcomes related to their activities and the use of respiratory protective equipment (RPE) during the first 20 hours of the Fire.

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POST-FIRE CONTAMINATED SOIL AROUND GRENFELL TOWER

For Local Residents, especially Vulnerable Residents – What are the Short and Long-Term Adverse Health Effects Resulting from the Fire in June 2017 ?   It is now 2025 !

Does Anybody Care ?!?!?

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‘Forever Chemicals’ … PFAS CONTAMINATION – HIGH PRIORITY JOINT PRESENTATION

Large portions of this joint Presentation are concerned with Firefighter #Safety, Firefighter #PPE, and Firefighting #Foams …

U.S.A. National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health – 21 April 2023

Overview of Per and PolyFluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Activities and Considerations

by Miriam Calkins, PhD, MS, Research Industrial Hygienist – CDC / NIOSH / DFSE / FRB

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NIOSH Research, Technical Support & Strategies

by Susan Moore, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Co-Coordinator Public Safety Sector, Co-Coordinator Personal Protective Technology – CDC / NIOSH / NPPTL

[ Click Either Title Above – PDF File, 7.03 Mb ]

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OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES

• New York City WTC 9-11 Health Registry.  Established in 2002 to monitor the health (physical, mental, psychological) of any person directly exposed to the WTC 9-11 Fires & Building Collapses … https://www.nyc.gov/site/911health/index.page
• World Health Organization / International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).  Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter … https://publications.iarc.fr/615

WHO / IARC Monograph Volume 132 – Occupational Exposure As A Firefighter

• U.S.A. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).  Centre for Firefighter Safety, Health & Wellbeing … https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/centers/firefighter-safety-and-health.html

NIOSH (USA) Graphic Breakdown of Firefighter Safety

AND … Better Design of Buildings & Facilities for Firefighter Safety ?!?!?

In Addition to ‘Access’ … Firefighter Safety Must Urgently be Included as a Functional Requirement in ALL Building #FireCodes

• Findings from a 2010-2015 NIOSH (USA) Study of Cancer among nearly 30,000 Firefighters active between 1950 and 2009.  Published July 2016.  Download PDF File (118 Kb).

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END

#SFE #SustainableFireEngineering #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #Resilience #Safety #FFsafety #Health #FFhealth #Welfare #FFwelfare #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #SmokeInhalation #RPE #SCBA #ToxicEffluents #WHO #IARC #WTC911 #FDNY #WTChealthProgram #LocalResidents #VulnerablePeople #FireSafety4ALL #HarmfulHealthImpacts #PFAS #ForeverChemicals #Cancer #FirefighterTurnoutGear #FirefightingFoams #JOEM #AHJ #FireServiceAdministrations #CivilSociety #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #SocialWellbeing4ALL