Aerosol Resuspension from Firefighter Gear: A Potential Source of Firefighter Respiratory Exposure
SHRUTI CHOUDHARY, Umer Bakali, Chitvan Killawala, Frank Pekora, Jonathan Robbins, Christopher Bator, Natasha Solle, Erin Kobetz, Alberto Caban-Martinez, Pratim Biswas, University of Miami
Abstract Number: 574
Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract
Firefighters are exposed to a variety of toxic aerosols and gases during fire trainings and on-duty fire calls. The International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified firefighting as a group 1 carcinogen. Aerosols could be resuspended during non-decontaminated gear doffing and donning. Respiratory safety from Self Contained Breathing Apparatus could be compromised unintentionally. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study estimating the potential aerosol exposure by resuspension from firefighter gear and the efficacy of gross decontamination with soap and water solution . Additionally, the particulate matter (PM) exposure in fire trucks due to resuspension of aerosol from firefighter gear was also evaluated.
Aerosol measurements at a live fire training facility, and inside fire trucks during fire responding calls was done. First, we study the aerosol emissions from gear in a controlled study where firefighter don and doff the gear inside an enclosed chamber after live fire training. Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer and aerosol spectrometer are used to measure size distributions. Anderson eight stage impactor is used to collect size-resolved aerosols resuspended from the gear for chemical composition analysis. The potential exposure was estimated by using the ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) respiratory deposition model. Second, the exposure in fire trucks due to aerosol resuspension from firefighter gear was determined using wearable particulate matter sensors.
Preliminary results suggest that aerosols are resuspended during gear doffing. The efficacy of gear decontamination after live fire training was 87% for total suspended particles and 70% for PM2.5. The PM2.5 concentration was as high as 140μg/m3 in the fire trucks after the firefighter attended the fire call, where the potential source could be aerosol resuspension from firefighter gear. Post-fire decontamination procedures hold promise in the reduction of resuspended aerosols from gear. Future directions include estimating aerosol resuspension during gear donning.