Assessment of Ambient Exposures Firefighters Encounter While at the Fire Station: An Exploratory Study.

OBJECTIVE: Firefighters are at an increased risk for many types of cancer. Although most studies on this topic focus on exposures encountered while fighting fires, exposures at the fire station are also cause for concern. This pilot study aimed to describe air quality within a few fire stations in and around Boston, Massachusetts, and to investigate physical and organizational factors that may influence levels of contaminants in stations. METHODS: Air sampling of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was completed at four fire stations in Spring, 2016. Sampling occurred in the kitchen, truck bay, and just outside the station. Data were analyzed to assess differences between and within stations. Interviews (n =7) were conducted with officers at each station to explore health and safety-related organizational policies and practices. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for thematic content. RESULTS: At each station, levels of contaminants were higher in the truck bays than either the outdoors or kitchen, and varied the most throughout the day. The station with the highest exposures in the truck bay had the lowest levels in the kitchen, which was possibly explained by new building materials and effective separation between building zones. The age and layout of the stations appeared to determine the extent to which policies favoring exhaust capture were implemented. CONCLUSION: Levels of PM2.5 and PAH inside fire stations may contribute to firefighter cancer risk. Through understanding contaminant variability, we can begin to design and test interventions that improve cancer prevention.

Hydrophobic meshes for oil spill recovery devices.

Widespread use of petrochemicals often leads to accidental releases in aquatic environments, occasionally with disastrous results. We have developed a hydrophobic and oleophilic mesh that separates oil from water continuously in situ via capillary action, providing a means of recovering spilt oil from surface waters. Steel mesh is dip-coated in a xylene solution of low-density polyethylene, creating a hydrophobic surface with tunable roughness and opening size. The hydrophobic mesh allows oil to pass through the openings while preventing the concomitant passage of water. A bench-top prototype demonstrated the efficacy of such an oil recovery device and allowed us to quantify the factors governing the ability of the mesh to separate oil and water. Preliminary data analysis suggested that the oleophilic openings behave somewhat like capillary tubes: the oil flux is inversely proportional to oil viscosity, and directly proportional to the size of the mesh openings. An unpinned meniscus model was found to predict the water intrusion pressure successfully, which increased as the opening size decreased. The trade-off between water intrusion and oil flow rate suggests an optimal pore size for given oil properties and sea conditions.