Firefighters face countless perils on any given day. But could the conditions within their own firehouses be among the hazards? That’s the focus of an ongoing study led by Emily Sparer-Fine, research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
A November 26, 2018 Worcester Telegram & Gazette article highlighted Sparer-Fine’s study, which spans 20 firehouses across Massachusetts. Researchers have hypothesized that conditions in firehouses could contribute to cancer-related illnesses among firefighters, and a previous pilot study led by Sparer-Fine showed that at certain times particulate matter from diesel exhaust of firetrucks was abundant in living quarters in older firehouses but not in more modern firehouses.
Sparer-Fine’s new study will build on those initial findings, and she expects to have results in 2019.
Read the Worcester Telegram & Gazette article: Researcher looking for link between firehouses and high incidences of cancer among firefighters