The Interagency Board has released Recommended Actions Related to Reducing the Known Risk of Cancer in Fire Fighters. The paper addresses one of the leading causes of firefighter fatalities — cancer. Find additional resources for firefighter cancer awareness and prevention at www.nvfc.org/cancer.
Cancer is the second leading cause of line-of-duty deaths among fire fighters today, following cardiovascular disease, as established by numerous scientific studies and data collected and evaluated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and by the International Association of Fire Fighter’s (IAFF) Line of Duty Deaths Database (http://www.iaff.org/hs/lodd/advancedSearch.asp). These databases demonstrate that occupationalexposure to carcinogens
significantly increases fire fighters’risk of several cancers in correlation with the duration of firefighting activities. Cancer deaths among members of the fire service have risen dramatically over the last 20 years, in tandem with the increasing toxicity of modern fires, due to the proliferation of synthetic products and plastics containing halogenated fire retardants, perfluorinated compounds (used to make materials stain resistant),phthalates, plasticizers, and other toxic chemicals that release carcinogenic by-products when burned.
Read: Recommended Actions Related to Reducing the Known Risk of Cancer in Fire Fighters
