Katharina Buczek
A recent study commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in the U.K. has found that firefighters are not just putting themselves in harm’s way of flames but also fatal health risks.
The study was independently conducted by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in England and revealed that firefighters have a mortality rate that is 1.6 times greater for all cancers than the general population.
The same research found that these first responders are also dying from heart attacks at five times the rate of the public, as well as strokes at nearly three times the general population’s rate.
UCLan Professor Anna Stec led the study and obtained mortality records through the National Records of Scotland.
However, the results of this research are still relevant to the rest of the United Kingdom, given that Scottish firefighters face the same conditions and carry out the same operational procedures as the rest of the U.K.
Certain types of cancers were also found to have much higher mortality rates among firefighters. Firefighters with prostate cancer had a mortality rate that was 3.8 times higher.
Similarly, those with leukemia showed a mortality rate of 3.17 times higher, and firefighters with esophageal cancer had a mortality rate of 2.42 times higher.
Finally, among cases in which cancer from an unknown origin spread, the mortality rate was an alarming 6.37 times higher than the public.
Various exposures and fire toxins have been linked to several cancer types, which explains why Scottish firefighters showed an excess of cancer mortality.
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