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Raised cancer risk in firefighters

Firefighters are at a far higher risk of developing certain cancers than people in many other professions, according to new research. A University of Cincinnati team said exposure to substances such as benzene, chloroform and soot posed a threat. Rates of testicular cancer were 100 per cent higher and prostate cancer 28 per cent higher among firefighters, their analysis of 32 US and European studies suggested. The US researchers looked at studies covering 110,000 firefighters, which compared cancer rates in that profession with the general population or other professions. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine paper found in addition to the 100 per cent increase in testicular cancer cases among firefighters, their was also a 50 per cent increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma. The researchers say firefighters are exposed to many compounds designated as carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer - including benzene, chloroform, soot, styrene and formaldehyde. Dr Grace LeMasters, who led the research, said firefighters' protective equipment was 'heavy, cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear and they don't like it. So as soon as they come out of the fire, they take it off. But there's a lot of soot and chemicals in there which they are being exposed to.' Firefighters suffering a range of cancers are eligible for official compensation in some US and Canadian jurisdictions (Risks 259).

• Cincinnati Enquirer. BBC News Online.
• GK LeMasters and others. Cancer risk among firefighters: A review and meta-analysis of 32 studies. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 48, number 11, pages 1189-1202, November 2006 [abstract].
• Hazards cancer and work and health webpages. US firefighters' union IAFF webpages on presumption laws in the US and Canada.

Briefing document (300 words) issued 17 Nov 2006