Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 56, Issue 1, Pages 440-450Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c05140
Keywords
flame retardants; thyroid hormone; firefighters; endocrine disruption; bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate
Categories
Funding
- California Breast Cancer Research Program [19BB-2900, 23BB-1700, 1701, 1702]
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [R01ES027051]
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Targeted Research Training Program [T42 OH008429]
- San Francisco Firefighter Cancer Prevention Foundation
- International Association of Firefighters-Local 798
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This study investigated the exposure to flame retardants among female firefighters and office workers, finding a specific FR compound associated with thyroid hormone levels in firefighters. Additionally, it revealed that intermediate body mass index and a college education were associated with higher FR levels.
Occupational exposures to flame retardants (FRs), a class of suspected endocrine-disrupting compounds, are of health concern for firefighters. We sought to characterize exposure to FR compounds and evaluate their association with thyroid hormone levels, a biomarker of early effect, in female firefighters and office workers in San Francisco. In a cross-sectional study, we measured replacement organophosphate and organohalogen FRs in spot urine samples from firefighters (N = 86) and office workers (N = 84), as well as total thyroxine (T-4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone in plasma for 84 firefighters and 81 office workers. Median bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate (BDCPP) levels were 5 times higher in firefighters than office workers. Among firefighters, a doubling of BDCPP was associated with a 2.88% decrease (95% confidence interval -5.28, -0.42) in T-4. We did not observe significant associations between FRs and T-4 among office workers. In the full group, intermediate body mass index and a college education were associated with higher FR levels. The inverse association observed between FRs and T-4 coupled with the lack of studies on women workers and evidence of adverse health effects from FR exposure-including endocrine disruption and breast cancer risk-warrant further research on occupational exposures and identification of opportunities for exposure reduction.
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