Hazardous
Careers - Firefighters at Risk of Asbestos Exposure
(October 14th, 2008)
 Firefighters
are constantly at risk in their jobs, but one of the most unique
and dangerous risks they are exposed to is asbestos exposure. Asbestos
by definition is the name of several minerals that naturally occur
in the environment as bundles of fibers and are separated into thin
durable threads. Beginning the late 1800s, asbestos was used across
many industries including automotive, building & construction,
shipbuilding among other industries. Asbestos is also known to cause
diseases such as pleural effusions, asbestosis, mesothelioma lung
cancer and pleural fibrosis. Unlike many dangers that firefighters
face, there is nothing that warns them that they could be exposed
to this deadly substance called Asbestos. Even in situations where
firefighters are properly wearing their masks, safety equipment
and fireproof jackets, they could still be exposed to Asbestos.
For the most part of the 20th century, Asbestos was heavily used
in constructing buildings, especially from the years 1920 to 1970.
Examples of the use of Asbestos in building construction includes:
i) Asbestos was mixed with paint and combined with cellulose to
make fiberboard and wallboard materials.
ii) Asbestos was mixed with cement to make siding shingles
iii) Asbestos was formed into felt for use as roof felting backings
on vinyl flooring.
iv) Asbestos is also commonly mixed with joint compounds
 Although
use of Asbestos was banned in 1980 by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), old buildings that were constructed with the product
still exist and put residents & workers around them at great
risk of asbstos exposure. Even worse, whenever there is a fire in
these buildings, asbestos fibers are dissipitated into the air and
could easily be inhaled or swallowed by firefighers. This happens
when asbestos made products are damaged, deteriorated or sanded.
There is a very high probability of asbestos fibers breaking off
into the air everytime there is a fire in an asbestos containing
building. This could happen if the firefighters punches a hole into
the ceiling, wall or the floors. If the building collapses, there
is a high chance that the cement, plaster, damaged walls and paint
could crumble down to dust and be released into the air. The image
on the right shows a building on fire, the white substance on the
right side has a high chance of containing asbestos fibers being
dissipitated into the air as the wall burns and deteriorates.
A high profile burning case where there was asbestos involved was
a fire that destroyed many buildings in a block of New Haven, Connecticut
in December 2007. Firefighters outside the building who were not
wearing masks were seriously exposed to asbestos fibers in the air
as they battled the fire through the entire night. The morning after,
air quality samples extracted from the buildings showed extremely
high levels of asbestos around the rubble. Firefighters not wearing
masks may have spent hours breathing in asbestos fibers that had
a moist superheated feeling.
 Other
buildings where firefighters are at increased risk of asbestos exposure
include public schools, commercial & residential buildings and
older homes. Firefighters go for training on buildings that are
scheduled to be demolished and practice fires are put on these buildings.
As these buildings are old and constructed during the era when asbestos
was popular, firefighters are at an even increased risk of asbestos
exposure as they chop through walls, floors & ceilings and apply
other fire control techniques. The image on the left is of Asbestos
abatement specialists examining the Deutsche Bank in New York on
Sunday August 19th, 2007. It was thought this building contains
asbestos & other toxic materials and was a threat to the well
being of its workers and clients.
What's worse is that even the protective clothing & gear that
firefighters wear is made of asbestos materials. Asbestos is known
for its properties for insulation & protection from heat. Coats,
gloves, jackets and other clothing items that firefighters wear
are made from asbestos containing materials as they offer protection
from catching on fire. During firefighting if their clothes become
worn out, this presents an opportunity for asbestos fibers to be
dissipitated into the air. To prevent this from happening, firefighters
are advised to wear respirator masks with approved HEPA filters
at all times when fighting fires as well as when training, doing
regular firehouse inspections and any other work related tasks.
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