Firefighters Cancer Risk

[five_alarm]

A t least 15 studies show a statistical link between brain cancer and firefighting. "It's amazing," says Bill Cole, president of the Ottawa Firefighters Association. "It's something we've intuitively known for years, but it's just coming to the fore." Epidemiologist Kristin Aronson, a specialist in the causes of cancer, looked at the death reports of 6,000 firefighters from Toronto. She says the prime suspect in the search for a culprit is toxins created by smouldering plastics. These cancer-causing vapours in smoke come from commonly-found glues, wraps, paints, insulation and other building materials, the synthetics found in almost every article of modern-day life. And in almost every fire.


Source: CBC.Ca... (http://www.firehall.com/cgi-bin/refer?url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/firefighter_safety/&s=38009910.3626893&linkid=57&parent=news)