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medic580 t1_jck70ig wrote

Reply to comment by bristollersw in Firefighter union sues Mass. group over toxic chemicals in protective gear by ak47workaccnt

I believe this stat is normally accounting for retired firefighters as well. The generation that have retired in the last ten years and are retiring now, had way more exposure to obvious carcinogens vs career firefighters of today.

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theopinionexpress t1_jckii3o wrote

That statistical accounting may be true, but only because the current generation of firefighters hasn’t died yet. If I were to make an educated guess, I’d say that these statistics are likely to drastically rise in the future.

But firefighters exposure to carcinogens have drastically risen year by year, for a litany of reasons. For one, structural firefighting fear obv, increased exposure to hazardous materials, a switch decades ago to diesel powered apparatus from gasoline, the use of firefighting foams, and the biggest factor is the construction materials used in buildings and their contents. Studies of legacy materials (wood, cotton) vs what is seen now in home furnishings like polystyrene foam, plastics, and others have drastically increased the level of toxic gases - including hydrogen cyanide for one.

It may seem that since fires are less frequent that exposure would be lower, but the opposite is true. The environment inside structure fires burns hotter, and release more- and more toxic, carcinogens.

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medic580 t1_jclaj2o wrote

Yes you are right. Although it is interesting that despite the cancer presumption law in Massachusetts, many firefighters still choose to consume tobacco products. I feel like the culture still has a long way to go and there’s so many things that can be done to limit exposure but are still ignored.

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solariam t1_jclpp6o wrote

Tobacco products are not permitted in many departments; you commit to that when you're hired. Anecdotally, I'd say there's one guy on the shift/in one station who occasionally dabbles (out of the group of 8ish who staff that station/shift for my firefighter, and the guy is an old timer). The cancer risk comes from constantly working around burning building materials/the culture around cleaning gear, which is shifting.

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medic580 t1_jclr6fw wrote

Tobacco products are not permitted but are pretty commonly used, at least in my part of the commonwealth. The culture is shifting for sure, hopefully that momentum continues.

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solariam t1_jclrcbp wrote

Fair enough-- not a firefighter myself but other than a very occasional lip, I don't see/hear of much use here.

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