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Carbon monoxide exposures in wildland firefighters in the United States and targets for exposure reduction

Abstract

Background

Every year thousands of wildland firefighters (WFFs) work to suppress wildfires to protect public safety, health, and property. Although much effort has been put toward mitigating air pollutant exposures for the public and WFFs, the current burden in this worker population is unclear as are the most effective exposure reduction strategies.

Objective

Quantify fireline carbon monoxide (CO) exposures in WFFs and identify predictors of exposures.

Methods

We collected 1-min breathing zone CO measurements on 246 WFFs assigned to fires between 2015 and 2017. We used generalized estimating equations to evaluate predictors of CO exposure.

Results

Approximately 5% of WFFs had fireline CO exposure means exceeding the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s occupational exposure limit of 16 ppm. Relative to operational breaks, direct suppression-related job tasks were associated with 56% (95% CI: 47%, 65%) higher geometric mean CO concentrations, adjusted for incident type, crew type, and fire location. WFF perception of smoke exposure was a strong predictor of measured CO exposure.

Significance

Specific job tasks related to direct suppression and WFF perceptions of smoke exposure are potential opportunities for targeted interventions aimed at minimizing exposure to smoke.

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Fig. 1: CO exposure by job task, crew type, and perceived smoke exposure for selected WFFs during a single shift.
Fig. 2: Job task and incident type as predictors of CO exposure.
Fig. 3: Wildland firefighter perceptions of smoke as a predictor of CO exposure.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the WFFs who volunteered to participate in this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the US Forest Service National Technology and Development Program (18-CR-11138100-023), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (R21OH011385), and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM130418). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mention of any company name or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH/CDC. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy. This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and it is therefore in the public domain and not subject to copyright.

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Authors

Contributions

Conceptualization, ES, CL, MW, CN, JD; methodology, ES, CL, MW, JD; formal analysis, ES, CL; data curation, MW, JD; writing—original draft preparation, ES, CL, MW, KN; writing—review and editing, ES, CL, MW, CN, KN, JD; ES and CL have accessed and verified the underlying data. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript to its final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erin O. Semmens.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Semmens, E.O., Leary, C.S., West, M.R. et al. Carbon monoxide exposures in wildland firefighters in the United States and targets for exposure reduction. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 31, 923–929 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00371-z

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