|
|
From the Queensland Firefighter Publication - WINTER 2008
"An investigation into the cancer cluster at Atherton Fire Station has concluded, with reports from all external agencies failing to reveal any localised cause for the incidents of cancer. These results seem to back up international studies that show that the occupation of firefighting in itself is a significant contributor to the contracting of cancer of various types. To this end, a large number of states in the USA and all of Canada have passed "presumptive" legislation that grants automatic recognition that a firefighter diagnosed with various types of cancer contracted that disease as a result of being a firefighter.
An electronic petition was available on the UFU of Qld until July 2008, which was seeking to have the Queensland Government introduce these laws. There were 1925 people who signed the petition, meaning that not all firefighters signed the petition that would have protected them in the event that they were diagnosed with a life changing disease.
Staggering statistics from America
* As firefighters, they are anywhere from TWICE AS LIKELY to SIX TIMES AS LIKELY to contract various forms of cancer.
* British Columbia - Amendments to the Workers Compensation Act have been introduced to recognise the following cancers as diseases that can arise where a worker is employed full-time as a firefighter and has been regularly exposed to the hazards of a fire scene, other than forest fire scene, over certain periods of time.
Primary site Brain cancer Employed for at least 10 years.
Primary site Bladder cancer Employed for at least 15 years.
Primary site Kidney cancer Employed for at least 20 years.
Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Employed for at least 20 years.
Primary Leukaemia Employed for at least 5 years.
Primary site colorectoral cancer Employed for at least 20 years.
Primary site ureter cancer Employed for at least 15 years.
I.A.F.F. Federal Firefighter Presumptive Disability |
Firefighters are exposed on a daily basis to stress, smoke, hear and various toxic substances. As a result, firefighters are far more likely to contract heart disease, lung disease and cancer than other workers. And as firefighting increasingly assume the role of the nation's leading providers of emergency medical services, they are also exposed to infectious diseases. Heart disease, lung disease, cancer and infectious disease are now among the leading causes of death and disability for firefighters, and numerous studies have found that these illnesses are occupational hazards of firefighting.
In recognition of this link, nearly 40 studies have enacted "presumptive disability" laws, which presume that diseases are job-related for purposes of worker's compensation and disability retirement unless proven otherwise. In America NO such law covers firefighters employed by the Federal Government.
Source director Medical monitioring at Mount Sinai Hospital....
"Since 9/11, 283 World Trade Centre Rescue & Recovery workers have been diagnosed with cancer, and 33 of them have died of cancer.
Cases of blood-cell cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's and myeloma, the cancers can strike 3 to 5 years AFTER exposure to toxins such as Benzene, a cancer causing chemical.
One in 150,000 white males under 40, would normally get this type of acute white blood-cell cancer, 35 of these cancers have been diagnosed already out of 50,000 Ground Zero Workers.
The odds of the occuring are one in hundreds of millions".
INFORMATION THAT CAN RING ALARM BELLS
Brain Cancer... Of 14 studies on the mortality of firefighters, 11 found excess risk for brain cancer.
POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE AGENTS for brain cancer in firefighters include Vinyl Chloride, Acrylonitrile and Formaldehyde.
Lymphatic & Haematopoietic Cancer... Found in the spleen, liver, lymph nodes and bone marrow. The best known of these cancers is Leukaemia.
POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE AGENTS for those cancers in firefighters include Benzene, Soots, PAH, Vinyl Chloride and Acrylonitrile.
Colon Cancer... The Ontario firefighters report concludes that there is a probable connection between firefighting and colon cancer.
POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE AGENTS are diesel exhaust and asbestos.
Bladder Cancer... There are also mixed results of studies linking Bladder cancer firefighting. Three studies found increased risk. One found a possible link. The Ontario report found a probable connection between firefighting and bladder cancer.
POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE AGENTS are diesel exhaust and Formaldehyde.
Kidney Cancer... The Ontario report found a probable link between firefighting and kidney cancer. Studies of the link between kidney cancer and firefighting show mixed results.
POSSIBLE CAUSATIVE AGENTS are Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarons.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2003. | 
