Australian firefighters' exposure to air toxics during bushfire burns of autumn 2005 and 2006 Fabienne Reisen a,b, ⁎, Stephen K. Brown c a CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, PMB 1 Aspendale, Victoria, 3195 Australia b Bushfire CRC, Level 5, 340 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic 3002, Australia c CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, PO Box 56, Highett, Victoria, 3190, Australia abstract article info Article history: Received 28 April 2008 Accepted 21 August 2008 Available online 1 October 2008 Keywords: Bushfire Smoke Carbon monoxide Respirable particles Respiratory irritants Personal exposure Health Bushfire fighting is a hazardous occupation and control strategies are generally in place to minimize the hazards. However, little is known regarding firefighters' exposure to bushfire smoke, which is a complex mixture of toxic gases and particles. In Australia, during the prescribed burning season, firefighters are likely to be exposed on a regular basis to bushfire smoke, but whether these exposures affect health has yet to be determined. There are a number of factors that govern whether exposure to smoke will result in short-term and/or long-term health problems, including the concentrations of air pollutants within the breathing zone of the firefighter, the exposure duration, and health susceptibility of the individual, especially for pre-existing lung or heart disease. This paper presents measurements of firefighters' personal exposure to bushfire smoke, the first step within a risk management framework. It provides crucial information on the magnitude, extent and frequency of personal exposure to bushfire smoke for a range of typical scenarios. It is found that the primary air toxics of concern are carbon monoxide (CO), respirable particles and formaldehyde. Also, work activity is a major factor influencing exposure with exposure standards (both average and short-term limits) likely to be exceeded for activities such as suppression of spot fires, holding the fireline, and patrolling at the edge of a burn area in the urban–rural interface. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Australia is a bushfire prone environment and bushfires occur at an average of several hundred fires per year. These bushfires can range from small to large scale events, can burn from hours to weeks and can release substantial quantities of hazardous contaminants to the atmosphere. During spring and autumn, fire and land management agencies carry out prescribed burns aimed at reducing fuel loads and thereby the severity of bushfires over the summer period. As a result during the prescribed burning season firefighters are likely to be exposed on a regular basis to hazardous pollutants in bushfire smoke. However, levels of pollutant exposures and whether these could cause health problems are yet to be determined. Toxic air contaminants from bushfire smoke are present as both the gaseous and particle phases (Ward, 1989, 1999; Brauer, 1999). Exposure to elevated levels of carbon monoxide (CO), respirable particles (RP), aldehydes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can cause short-term adverse health effects to firefighters, such as coughing, eye irritation, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness and nausea (Dost, 1991). Additionally, long-term health effects (impaired respiratory function or increased risk of cancer) may be caused by exposures to RP and potentially toxic compounds adsorbed to them (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and semi- volatile organic compounds, some of which may be carcinogenic) as well as aldehydes (formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are known and probable human carcinogens, respectively). There are a number of factors that affect how exposure to smoke can cause health problems, including the concentrations of air pollutants within the breathing zone of the firefighter, the exposure duration, exertion levels, and individual susceptibility such as pre-existing lung or heart disease. This study will focus on the first two of these factors. Previous research on firefighters' exposures to bushfire smoke is limited to the extensive personal exposure studies of forest firefighters in the USA (Materna et al., 1992, 1993; McMahon and Bush, 1992; Reh and Deitchman, 1992; Kelly, 1992a, 1992b; Reh et al., 1994; McCammon and McKenzie, 2000; Reinhardt and Ottmar, 2000, 2004; Reinhardt et al., 2000). These studies found that the major pollutants of concern were CO (in particular elevated short-term exposures) and respiratory irritants (RP, formaldehyde and acrolein) (Reinhardt and Ottmar, 2000; Reinhardt et al., 2000). A small study in Australia (Brotherhood et al., 1990) determined CO exposures using Environment International 35 (2009) 342–352 ⁎ Corresponding author. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 1, Aspendale, VIC 3195, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 9239 4435; fax: +61 3 9239 4444. E-mail address: Fabienne.Reisen@csiro.au (F. Reisen). 0160-4120/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2008.08.011 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environment International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envint