Providing firefighter cancer awareness and prevention training nationwide.
Cancer is the second leading cause of deaths among firefighters today, following cardiovascular disease, as established by numerous scientific studies and data collected and evaluated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and by the International Association of Fire Fighter’s (IAFF) Line of Duty Deaths Database
These databases demonstrate that occupational exposure to carcinogens significantly increases firefighters’ risk of several cancers in correlation with the duration of firefighting activities. Cancer deaths among members of the fire service have risen dramatically over the last 20 years, in tandem with the increasing toxicity of modern fires, due to the proliferation of synthetic products and plastics, and other toxic chemicals that release carcinogenic by-products when burned.
These databases demonstrate that occupational exposure to carcinogens significantly increases firefighters’ risk of several cancers in correlation with the duration of firefighting activities. Cancer deaths among members of the fire service have risen dramatically over the last 20 years, in tandem with the increasing toxicity of modern fires, due to the proliferation of synthetic products and plastics, and other toxic chemicals that release carcinogenic by-products when burned.
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Rate of cancers in firefighters compared to the general public
■ Testicular cancer (2.02 times greater risk)
■ Multiple myeloma (1.53 times greater risk) ■ Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (1.51 times greater risk) ■ Skin cancer (1.39 times greater risk) ■ Prostate cancer (1.28 times greater risk) ■ Malignant melanoma (1.31 times great risk) ■ Brain cancer (1.31 times greater risk) ■ Colon cancer (1.21 times great risk) ■ Leukemia (1.14 times greater risk) ■ Breast cancer in women (preliminary study results from the San Francisco Fire Department) |
