Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear

Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Calvillo, Anthony
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2018
Subjects:
Occupational Safety
Contamination
washing
PAHs
volatile organic compounds
firefighting
personal protective equipment
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1530880114309489
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin15308801143094892021-08-03T07:07:31Z Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear Calvillo, Anthony Occupational Safety Contamination washing PAHs volatile organic compounds firefighting personal protective equipment Firefighters are exposed to toxic environments upon entering burning structures. Many structures contain synthetic materials which release toxic chemicals when on fire. These chemicals can enter the body through multiple routes of exposure, including inhalation and skin absorption. Thus, fire departments have implemented on site decontamination procedures to remove hazardous chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the surface of firefighter turnout gear. Several methods are being practiced at the local level, including washing gear with soap and water, and washing gear with water alone. The water-only decontamination method requires less time and supplies yet has not been investigated as a suitable method for removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from turnout gear. Therefore, we evaluated the efficiency of this method by measuring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration levels before and after water-only decontamination. The turnout gear was sampled after live residential structure fires. Firefighter turnout gear was worn throughout attack, Overhaul Search and Rescue, and Rescue from Fire operations. All firefighters came to a central location for sampling after completing their job responsibilities. The water-only decontamination method resulted in an overall 42% median increase in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration. The results indicate that the water-only method is not an efficient on-site decontamination method. 2018-10-30 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1530880114309489 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1530880114309489 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Occupational Safety
Contamination
washing
PAHs
volatile organic compounds
firefighting
personal protective equipment
spellingShingle Occupational Safety
Contamination
washing
PAHs
volatile organic compounds
firefighting
personal protective equipment
Calvillo, Anthony
Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
author Calvillo, Anthony
author_facet Calvillo, Anthony
author_sort Calvillo, Anthony
title Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
title_short Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
title_full Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
title_fullStr Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Water-only Decontamination for Firefighters’ Turnout Gear
title_sort evaluation of water-only decontamination for firefighters’ turnout gear
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2018
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1530880114309489
work_keys_str_mv AT calvilloanthony evaluationofwateronlydecontaminationforfirefightersturnoutgear
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