SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A new study that will be done in Arizona aims to find a new way to reduce and reverse the risk of cancer in firefighters.
The Arizona Board of Regents recently awarded a $4 million grant to fund the study.
Scottsdale Fire Department will be among the Arizona fire services with firefighters participating in it.
The Centers for Disease Control says cancer is a leading cause of death for firefighters. Research also suggests firefighters are at a higher risk of certain cancers compared to the general population.
“Firefighters are far more susceptible to get cancer because of the things that we're exposed to,” said Scottsdale Fire Chief Tom Shannon. “[We] go to a car fire, go to a trash fire, go to a house fire, we know there's about a dozen carcinogens inside that building, so it's a hazmat call.”
Those carcinogens are caused by forever chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Firefighters encounter PFAS in many ways, including burning household items, potential contamination from personal protective equipment, and firefighter foam, which is used to put out burning liquids.
Thanks to past research, firefighters in Chief Shannon’s department and many others go through an extensive decontamination process to get rid of as many of those PFAS as possible. For example, they hose down with water after a call.
That wasn't always the case.
“Quite honestly, we didn't know what we didn't know,” Chief Shannon said. “We would go home tasting metal in our mouth and just stinking like an ashtray and so we intuitively knew there was something going on, but now the science tells us, absolutely.”
This new study will enroll 1,500 Arizona firefighters to test if blood and plasma donations lower PFAS levels.
Occupational cancer is also a topic that weighs on Chief Shannon’s heart, like so many others in the profession.
“My nephew was a Goodyear firefighter and he got a very rare cancer that was clearly workplace related,” he said. “He fought for four years to beat that cancer but, ultimately, he succumbed.”
His hope is that this new research will be a beacon of hope for firefighters and can improve their lives.
Dr. Jeff Burgess, a University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health professor and principal investigator for the project, said the outlook is good.
“Results from a previous study in Australia are encouraging as PFAS levels decreased through blood and plasma donations,” Dr. Burgess said. “We’re expecting similar results here and we will also be studying whether the reduced levels can also decrease disease risks associated with PFAS – research which has not been done before and which we hope will ultimately save more lives among our fire first responders.”
The University of Arizona will be leading the study in partnership with the Arizona Fire Chiefs Association and Arizona State University.
