title: Individual and cumulative impacts of fire emissions and tobacco consumption on wildland firefighters' total exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
abstract: There is limited information about wildland firefighters' exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), being scarce studies that included the impact of tobacco consumption. Thus, this work evaluated the individual and cumulative impacts of firefighting activities and smoking on wildland firefighters' total exposure to PAHs. Six urinary PAH metabolites (1-hydroxynaphthalene (1OHNaph), 1-hydroxyacenaphthene (1OHAce), 2-hydroxyfluorene (2OHFlu), 1-hydroxyphenanthrene (1OHPhen), 1-hydroxypyrene (1OHPy), and 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene (3OHB[a]P)) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. Firefighters from three fire stations were characterized and organized in three groups: non-smoking and non-exposed to fire emissions (NSNExp), smoking non-exposed (SNExp), and smoking exposed (SExp) individuals. 1OHNaph+1OHAce were the most predominant OH-PAHs (66-91% ∑OH-PAHs), followed by 2OHFlu (2.8-28%), 1OHPhen (1.3-7%), and 1OHPy (1.4-6%). 3OHB[a]P, the carcinogenicity PAH biomarker, was not detected. Regular consumption of tobacco increased 76-412% ∑OH-PAHs. Fire combat activities promoted significant increments of 158-551% ∑OH-PAHs. 2OHFlu was the most affected compound by firefighting activities (111-1068%), while 1OHNaph+1OHAce presented the more pronounced increments due to tobacco consumption (22-339%); 1OHPhen (76-176%) and 1OHPy (20-220%) were the least influenced ones. OH-PAH levels of SExp firefighters were significantly higher than in other groups, suggesting that these subjects may be more vulnerable to develop and/or aggravate diseases related with PAHs exposure.
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE-LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; LEPABE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE-LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal; LEPABE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Klara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Slezakova
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos Pires
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.
authors.forename: Adília
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Saúde Pública, Departamento de Saúde Ambiental, Rua Alexandre Herculano 321, 4000-055 Porto, Portugal; Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Saúde Pública, Rua das Taipas 135, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Paulo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE-LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delerue-Matos
authors.affiliation: LEPABE, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: do Carmo Pereira
authors.affiliation: REQUIMTE-LAQV, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: sbm@isep.ipp.pt.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morais
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D061388:Firefighters; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis* / Q000652:urine; D012907:Smoking; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D055815:Young Adult; D014026:Nicotiana
chemical_list: D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
keywords: Biomonitoring; Firemen; Occupational exposure; Tobacco smoking; Urinary monohydroxyl metabolites (OH-PAHs)