Tucson firefighters part of 3-year cancer study

Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. — University of Arizona researchers will be keeping tabs on Tucson Fire Department personnel over the next three years to learn more about what role chemicals from fires play in causing cancer among firefighters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $1.5 million to the university to conduct the study into the cancer impact of synthetic materials found in everyday household items that burn during fires.

Those items include furniture and carpeting, and the firefighters can be exposed through skin contamination and inhalation of smoke, gases, vapors, diesel exhaust and particulates.

The research will include evaluating blood and urine samples and tracking the health of firefighters, including new recruits previously unexposed to house fires.