TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Short-term spirometric changes in wildland firefighters
JO  - American journal of industrial medicine
A1  - Jacquin, Laurent
A1  - Michelet, Pierre
A1  - Brocq, François-Xavier
A1  - Houel, Jean-Guillaume
A1  - Truchet, Xavier
A1  - Auffray, Jean-Pierre
A1  - Carpentier, Jean-Pierre
A1  - Jammes, Yves
SP  - 819
EP  - 825
VL  - 54
IS  - 11
N2  - BACKGROUND: The short-term effects of smoke inhalation have been little studied in European wildland firefighters, especially in an intra-individual design. Our purpose is to study the spirometric changes from the early stage during a wildland fire season and to compare smokers and non-smokers. METHODS: A population of 108 firefighters from a Civil Security Unit, based in Corsica, was tested immediately after having been exposed to the smoke of coniferous trees. RESULTS: Out of 108 people, 59 were smokers and 49 were non-smokers without any acute or chronic pulmonary disease. Compared to baseline values, a decrease of spirometric parameters was observed immediately after the end of exposure and an even greater decrease was seen after 24 hr (FEV1 -0.53 L; FVC -0.59 L; PEF -53 L min(-1) , P < 0.05 for each). None of the participants complained of respiratory symptoms. Three months after the end of the season, a final test was given which revealed a persistent decrease in spirometric parameters in comparison with baseline values (FEV1 -0.28 L; FVC -0.34 L; PEF -45 L min(-1) , P < 0.05 for each). Comparison of smoking and non-smoking groups did not show any noteworthy difference for each parameter or the importance of their decline. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that firefighters are likely to develop respiratory impairments after wood smoke exposure. We did not observe any statistical differences between smokers and non-smokers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:819-825, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0271-3586
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.21002
ID  - ref1
ER  -