Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and styrene (BTEXS) concentrations in the changing room and garage in a fire station located in the Upper Silesian agglomeration (Poland), to compare them with the concentrations of the same compounds in the atmospheric air (outdoor background) and to assess the health exposure to BTEXS among firefighters and office workers in this unit. BTEXS samples were collected during the winter of 2018 in parallel in the garage, in the changing room, and outside, using sorption tubes filled with activated carbon. The average total BTEXS concentrations in the changing room and garage were over six times higher than those in the atmospheric air in the vicinity of the fire station. At each sampling site, toluene and benzene had the highest concentrations. According to the diagnostic indicators, the combustion of various materials and fuels was the source of BTEXS inside, while outside, the sources were the combustion of fuels and industrial activity. The carcinogenic risk related to benzene inhalation by the firefighters and office employees in the monitored unit exceeded the acceptable risk level value of 7.8 × 10−6 per 1 μg/m3 by more than 20 times.
Highlights
Firefighters are often exposed to very high concentrations of various products of combustion and pyrolysis, including substances in a gaseous phase adsorbed on ambient particulate matter (PM-bound).The toxic substances found in fire smoke are most often polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOC), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and several other organic and inorganic compounds [1,2,3]
The concentrations of individual compounds from the BTEXS in the changing room and garage are several to several dozen times higher than the concentrations of these substances in the atmospheric air outside the fire station
Both firefighters and office workers staying under measured conditions are at risk of carcinogenic exposure that exceeds an acceptable level
Summary
The toxic substances found in fire smoke are most often polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOC) (including BTEXS), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and several other organic and inorganic compounds [1,2,3]. Exposure to these compounds has been linked to a higher risk of specific cancers and cardiovascular diseases and acute and chronic effects that result in increased fire fighter mortality and morbidity [2,4,5,6]. Gaseous substances, especially VOCs such as HCN and the most volatile PAH, can penetrate into the interior space of the turnout gear [9] and undergo the phenomenon of off-gassing in fire truck cabins and storage areas, such as changing rooms
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