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. 2022 Jan:158:106914.
doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106914. Epub 2021 Oct 11.

Firefighter exposures to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals measured by military-style silicone dog tags

Carolyn M Poutasse  1 , Christopher K Haddock  2 , Walker S C Poston  2 , Sara A Jahnke  2 , Lane G Tidwell  1 , Emily M Bonner  1 , Peter D Hoffman  1 , Kim A Anderson  3
Affiliations

Firefighter exposures to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals measured by military-style silicone dog tags

Carolyn M Poutasse et al. Environ Int. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Studies suggest that exposure to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (pEDCs) may contribute to adverse health outcomes, but pEDC exposures among firefighters have not been fully characterized. Previously, we demonstrated the military-style silicone dog tag as a personal passive sampling device for assessing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures among structural firefighters. This follow-up analysis examined the pEDC exposures based on department call volume, duty shift, and questionnaire variables. Structural firefighters (n = 56) were from one high and one low fire call volume department (Kansas City, MO metropolitan area) and wore separate dog tags while on- and off-duty (ndogtags = 110). The targeted 1530 analyte semi-quantitative screening method was conducted using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (npEDCs = 433). A total of 47 pEDCs were detected, and several less-frequently-detected pEDCs (<75%) were more commonly detected in off- compared to on-duty dog tags (conditional logistic regression). Of the 11 phthalates and fragrances detected most frequently (>75%), off-duty pEDC concentrations were strongly correlated (r = 0.31-0.82, p < 0.05), suggesting co-applications of phthalates and fragrances in consumer products. Questionnaire variables of "regular use of conventional cleaning products" and "fireplace in the home" were associated with select elevated pEDC concentrations by duty shift (paired t-test). This suggested researchers should include detailed questions about consumer product use and home environment when examining personal pEDC exposures.

Keywords: Firefighter; Passive sampling; Personal monitoring; Potential endocrine disrupting chemical.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Kim A. Anderson, an author of this research, discloses a financial interest in MyExposome, Inc., which is marketing products related to the research being reported. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by OSU in accordance with its policy on research conflicts of interest. The authors have no other disclosures.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Conditional logistic regressions were conducted for individual pEDCs by binary presence-absence data using paired on- and off-duty firefighter dog tag samples. pEDCs in italics were detected in over 75% of the dog tag samples. *: p < 0.05.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Spearman’s correlation coefficient matrices were calculated for pEDCs detected in >75% of the silicone dog tags. Target analytes are organized by detection frequency (top to bottom, left to right) for A) off-duty and B) on-duty dog tags.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Paired t-tests (false discovery rate-adjusted p-value, alpha = 0.05) were conducted on firefighter dog tags by duty shift to examine the influence of different questionnaire variables: A) regular use of conventional cleaning products and B) having a fireplace in the home.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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