Assessment of firefighters’ occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by biomonitoring

Introduction: Firefighters may suffer potential health risks due to the regular exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from forest fires. This work determines the concentrations of the biomarker of exposure of PAHs, 1-hydroxypyrene, in the urine of firefighters recently exposed to fire emissions. Methodology: Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene was determined by solid-phase exctration followed by a liquid chromatographic analysis with fluorescence detection. Results: Urinary concentrations were 107% higher in firefighters that were recently involved in firefighting activities comparatively with the control Group (0.058 versus 0.028 μmol/mol creatinine), respectively. Median concentrations of urinary 1- hydroxypyrene were below the benchmark level (0.5 μmol/mol creatinine) proposed by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Conclusions: More studies including other PAH biomarkers of exposure and (bio)markers of early effect are necessary to better characterize firefighters’ occupational exposure and to estimate the potential health risks.