Assessment of firefighters’ health exposure to indoor air pollutants inside fire station

Abstract

In this study, exposure to a range of chemical substances, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), formaldehyde, PM_2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PM_2.5-bound metals, was estimated for two groups of fire station workers: firefighters and office workers. The health risk assessment was based on the results of self-conducted measurements, which were taken simultaneously inside and outside of a typical Polish fire station in two seasons: heating (January-March 2023) and non-heating (May-July 2023). The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) associated with the exposure of fire station workers to BTEX, formaldehyde, PM_2.5-bound PAHs and metals was found to be within the range of 3.35 × 10⁻⁴–6.70 × 10⁻⁴, exceeding the acceptable risk value of 10⁻⁴. The hazard indexes (HIs), which provide information regarding the level of non-carcinogenic risk, have values within the range of 11.34–19.13. It is important to note that these studies are in their nascent stages and are based on measurements obtained from a single fire station. However, the preliminary findings suggest that exposure to the analyzed pollutants may have adverse effects on human health. This study elucidates the critical issue of the impact of air quality at fire stations on the health of their users, underscoring the necessity for the implementation of solutions that reduce the concentrations of air pollutants at fire stations and further research in this domain.