The Cancer Letter | "A year after LA wildfires, early data reinforce anxieties over firefighters’ cancer risks"
The Cancer Letter interviewed Dr. Rachael Jones, chair in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, about research into firefighters' health.
The Cancer Letter interviewed Dr. Rachael Jones, professor and chair in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, about her research into firefighters' use of protective equipment and cancer risks.
“The respirators are only as good as when you actually wear them when you have exposures,” said Jones, a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences.
Working with the California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), Jones, an exposure scientist and industrial hygienist at UCLA, is helping develop an official respirator policy.
Jones is conducting multiple studies that explore how effective respirators are at filtering out multiple toxic chemicals and how much load does wearing a mask really put on a firefighter’s body. Also, she is studying attitudes towards masks.
Her first publication, a qualitative study composed of interviews from firefighters, shows that there is an openness to respirators in spite of the seemingly blanket opposition.
“They thought respirator use was feasible in a few activities that are of lower physical intensity,” Jones said. “For example, mop-up activity when the fire is visibly out. They have to go through the land, check for hotspots, dig up roots, and extinguish embers that might be underground. The danger level is lower because there’s not active flames. They can control their exertion levels.”
