Arizona researchers seeking simple ways to reduce firefighter cancer risk

PHOENIX — Arizona researchers are working to develop some simple yet surprising ways to reduce the cancer risk for firefighters.

Firefighters often come into contact with cancer-causing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These “forever chemicals” have been linked to deadly conditions such as cancer, immune system suppression and heart problems.

In 2022, the Arizona Board of Regents awarded a $4 million grant to fund state university research into ways to reduce the cancer risk for firefighters.

The Arizona firefighting community specifically asked researchers to look at PFAS found in the blood and to validate the results from a previous Australian study that found how blood and plasma donations can reduce the levels.

How much higher is cancer risk for firefighters?

Cancer is the leading cause of death in firefighters, who have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public, according to CDC data.

“Firefighters are out there for us. They literally put their lives on the line for us on a regular basis, and it is up to us … to help support them. And thankfully, we’re in a great position in the universities in Arizona to be able to carry out the research to answer questions that firefighters have,” Dr. Jeff Burgess, a University of Arizona public health professor and principal investigator for the project, said Friday.

Burgess presented the initial findings to the Arizona Board of Regents in June showing certain strong predictors in a person’s starting PFAS levels before beginning a randomized clinical control study.

For example, firefighters who chose to drink bottled water had up to 20% lower PFAS levels than those who drank from the tap.

“What I think is going on there, is there may have been PFAS contamination in the drinking water, either at home or at the fire station, because some of our water supplies in Arizona are contaminated by PFAS,” he said.

The research also found that those with a history of plasma donation had up to 33% lower PFAS contamination than those who didn’t, and those who had a history of donating blood had 6% lower levels of forever chemicals.

Furthermore, firefighters who washed their gear while still at the scene of a fire had 24% lower levels.

Additional research will examine whether lifestyle changes like intermittent fasting and exercise will lower levels and whether lower levels inherently mean a reduction in cancer risk.

“We feel very confident that we’re going to find a reduction in toxicity, but we won’t know for sure until we look at the data,” Burgess said.

He expects to provide results to the firefighters involved in the study by the end of the year.

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