Journal article
Occupational PAH exposures during prescribed pile burns
The Annals of occupational hygiene, Vol.52(6), pp.497-508
08/2008
DOI: 10.1093/annhyg/men027
PMCID: PMC2732184
PMID: 18515848
Abstract
Wildland firefighters are exposed to particulate matter and gases containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), many of which are known carcinogens. Our objective was to evaluate the extent of firefighter exposure to particulate and PAHs during prescribed pile burns of mainly ponderosa pine slash and determine whether these exposures were correlated with changes in urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-HP), a PAH metabolite. Personal and area sampling for particulate and PAH exposures were conducted on the White Mountain Apache Tribe reservation, working with 21 Bureau of Indian Affairs/Fort Apache Agency wildland firefighters during the fall of 2006. Urine samples were collected pre- and post-exposure and pulmonary function was measured. Personal PAH exposures were detectable for only 3 of 16 PAHs analyzed: naphthalene, phenanthrene, and fluorene, all of which were identified only in vapor-phase samples. Condensed-phase PAHs were detected in PM2.5 area samples (20 of 21 PAHs analyzed were detected, all but naphthalene) at concentrations below 1 microg m(-3). The total PAH/PM2.5 mass fractions were roughly a factor of two higher during smoldering (1.06 +/- 0.15) than ignition (0.55 +/- 0.04 microg mg(-1)). There were no significant changes in urinary 1-HP or pulmonary function following exposure to pile burning. In summary, PAH exposures were low in pile burns, and urinary testing for a PAH metabolite failed to show a significant difference between baseline and post-exposure measurements.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Occupational PAH exposures during prescribed pile burns
- Creators
- M S Robinson - Northern Arizona UniversityT R AnthonyS R LittauP HerckesX NelsonG S PoplinJ L Burgess
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Annals of occupational hygiene, Vol.52(6), pp.497-508
- DOI
- 10.1093/annhyg/men027
- PMID
- 18515848
- PMCID
- PMC2732184
- NLM abbreviation
- Ann Occup Hyg
- ISSN
- 0003-4878
- eISSN
- 1475-3162
- Publisher
- England
- Grant note
- U54 CA096281 / NCI NIH HHS 5 U54 CA 096281-04 / NCI NIH HHS P30 ES006694 / NIEHS NIH HHS U54 CA143924 / NCI NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/2008
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health
- Record Identifier
- 9983997468802771
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