Respiratory Effects of Particulate Exposures in Wildland Firefighters

Project Information

Principal Investigator	Denise Gaughan
Institution	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Project URL	View
Relevance to Implications	High
Class of Nanomaterial	Natural Nanomaterials
Impact Sector	Human Health
Broad Research Categories	Exposure Hazard Generation, Dispersion, Transformation etc. Characterization
NNI identifier

Funding Information

Country	USA
Anticipated Total Funding	n/a
Annual Funding	n/a
Funding Source	NIOSH
Funding Mechanism	Intramural
Funding Sector	Government
Start Year	2005
Anticipated End Year	2007

Abstract/Summary

This project will determine the age-adjusted prevalence of airways obstruction in Federal wildland firefighters, as well as examine predictors of decreased lung function in these individuals at baseline and of short-term changes in lung function (pre-post fire), adjusting for competing and confounding factors. Predictors of airways inflammation and FEV1 and FVC as well as the relationship between these two measures will be examined. Additionally, we will determine the size distribution of particulate matter in wildfire smoke and ascertain the free radical concentration in the products of combustion. Finally, we will size-classify the smoke aerosol ranging from the ultracoarse (> 10 µm) through the ultrafine (< 100 nm) fractions.