Environmental hazards in firefighters’ work. A short review

The following work covers several issues. It discusses environmental factors identified in the scientific literature, especially pollutants emitted during fires that can be found crucial in terms of their contribution to occupational exposure among firefighters. Moreover, the authors described the issue of transferring pollutants indoors on the surface of items of clothing, equipment, and other elements by firefighters, which is commonly indicated in many studies. It was shown that this occurrence can be a secondary source of numerous substances inside rooms, in which firefighters stay before or after fire and rescue operations. Chronic and long-term exposure in the context of causing life-long health hazards (including carcinogenic effects) has a greater impact than occasional staying in a highly polluted environment (for instance during an extinguishing action). Due to the above, the summary of the following work contains recommendations concerning subjects of studies that need to be soon conducted to decrease the level of occupational exposure of firefighters caused by environmental factors.