Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Exposure and Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-020-00366-5 ORIGINAL PAPER Physicochemical Characterization of Personal Exposures to Smoke Aerosol and PAHs of Wildland Firefghters in Prescribed Fires Jordan Nelson 1  · Marie‑Cecile G. Chalbot 1,2  · Irini Tsiodra 3  · Nikolaos Mihalopoulos 3  · Ilias G. Kavouras 1,4 Received: 25 February 2020 / Revised: 25 May 2020 / Accepted: 5 June 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract Particle mass and number of smoke aerosol exposures of frefghters were studied during prescribed fre events. In addition, organic and elemental carbon, functional content and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons were determined by spectrometric and chromatographic methods. During the study, frefghters engaged in working tasks including maintenance of the fre front using drip torch ignition and support activities related to fre progression monitoring. Particle number concentration was dominated by particles in the fne range (diameter 0.5–2.5 μm) including signifcant quantities (about 10–30%) of coarse particles (diameter > 2.5 μm). Particle number concentrations varied substantially during a fre event and were related to topography as well as frefghter’s activity with elevated particle number concentrations during increased walking speeds. This variation was in agreement with the median and standard deviation of the percent relative concentration diference val- ues indicating within-subject variability. Both organic and elemental carbon were accumulated in particles with a diameter lower than 1.0 μm. Combustion 4- and 5-ring PAHs including pyrene, chrysene and benzo[a]pyrene were accumulated in fne aerosol, with naphthalene being present mostly in larger particles. The values of PAHs concentration diagnostic ratios indicated a mixture of biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion probably due to the use of gasoline and diesel to ignite the fre. These fndings may also be relevant for environmental exposures to wildifres smoke because of the proximity of large and intense wildfres in populated centers. Keywords NMR spectroscopy · GC/MS · Functional composition · Benzo(a)pyrene · Wildfre smoke · Particle number Introduction Firefghters comprise the largest group of public safety employees with more than 373,600 career and 682,600 vol- unteer frefghters in the United States (US) responding to diferent fre types including structural and wildfres (Haynes and Stein, 2017; Evarts and Stein, 2019). As a result, fre- fghters are routinely exposed to chemical, physical, and psychological stressors with smoke inhalation being the pre- dominant risk factor associated with disease onset (Adetona et al. 2013a; Banes 2014). Wildfres smoke has been asso- ciated with increased risk of respiratory and cardiovascu- lar diseases including COPD, acute bronchitis, pneumonia (Delfno et al. 2008; Morgan et al. 2010), cardiovascular mortality (Soteriadis et al. 2011, Rappold et al. 2011) and cancer (Daniels et al. 2014, 2015) among frefghters and the general public. However, the specifc component(s) of smoke responsible for the onset of health outcomes has yet to be elucidated. Respiratory protection is aforded to fre- fghters responding to structural fres, but their use in wild- land frefghting is limited due to device weight and fxed air capacity (Austin et al. 2001; Fabian et al. 2011). Towels and bandanas over frefghter’s mouth and distance from the fre are the most frequent methods to prevent smoke inhalation during an active wildfre event. * Ilias G. Kavouras ilias.kavouras@sph.cuny.edu 1 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Ryals School of Public Health, University of Alabamaa Birmingham, Birmingham 35219, USA 2 Department of Biology, College of Technology, City University of New York, Brooklyn 12222, USA 3 Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Greece 4 Department of Environmental, Occupational and Geospatial Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York 10027, USA