FSU receives $1.5 million FEMA grant with University of Arizona to study cancer risk among women firefighters
Florida – Florida State University researchers will take part in a first-of-its-kind study examining whether the way protective gear fits women firefighters could affect their risk of occupational cancer.
The research is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and brings together FSU’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship and the University of Arizona.
Meredith McQuerry, FSU Carol Avery Professor and director of the Wearable Advancements in Research and Performance group, or WARP, is a co-recipient of the grant. She and her team will work with researchers at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health to examine the relationship between personal protective equipment, commonly known as PPE, and cancer risks faced by firefighters.
Researchers say the findings could have implications for approximately 1.1 million members of the United States Fire Service.
“I am honored to be part of this award, partnering with colleagues at the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, to study how gear fit directly impacts occupational cancer for the first time,” McQuerry said. “We hope this work will inform standard sizing improvements for increased firefighter health and safety.”
Studying firefighters across four states
The project will focus specifically on women in the fire service and whether differences in the fit of their protective equipment could influence exposure to substances associated with occupational cancer.
McQuerry and her research team will compare the fit of protective gear worn by female firefighters with cancer biomarkers.
The biomarkers will be examined before and after live-fire training burns, allowing researchers to look for changes associated with those training environments.
Testing will take place at four structural fire departments across the United States. Participating departments are located in Florida, California, Arizona and Virginia.
The research addresses an important issue for the profession. Occupational cancer is the leading cause of long-term line-of-duty deaths in the fire service.
The new study follows earlier work involving FSU and the University of Arizona.
Last spring, FSU principal investigator and postdoctoral fellow Josephine Bolaji worked with Arizona researchers on a pilot trial. During that project, the researchers deployed a multi-measurement system designed to quantify how protective gear fits firefighters.
The latest FEMA-funded study will build on that work by examining gear fit alongside biological indicators connected with cancer risk.
Research focuses on firefighter safety
McQuerry has extensive experience studying clothing, protective equipment and the physical effects of garments worn in demanding working conditions.
She serves as director of FSU’s ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab, where research focuses on clothing comfort physiology and ways functional equipment can improve safety for first responders.
The new project will examine several possible risk factors related to toxic exposure among women firefighters. It will also consider reproductive outcomes for the female firefighter population.
The research is part of a broader effort at FSU to understand how equipment design, sizing and performance can affect the people who rely on protective clothing in hazardous environments.
McQuerry has previously received federal funding to study the potentially hazardous relationship between poorly fitting protective gear and increased occupational exposure.
Her research has also extended beyond structural firefighting.
McQuerry recently chaired a research team that completed a five-year, multi-state project called “Protective Clothing for Wildland Firefighters.”
That work resulted in recommendations to the National Fire Protection Agency on methods for cleaning and protecting PPE used by wildland firefighters.
FSU research combines several specialties
The latest study also connects with FSU Health, the university’s integrated academic health system.
FSU Health combines research, education and innovation with hospitals, physicians and clinics, with the broader goal of improving health in the communities served by the university.
McQuerry is also a member of ICON-Health, an FSU institute focused on fighting chronic disease through multidisciplinary research.
Her work through the WARP Group involves researchers at several levels.
As head of WARP, McQuerry leads postdoctoral researchers as well as graduate and undergraduate students. Their work is carried out across FSU’s ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab, Textile Testing Laboratory and 3D Body Scanning Lab.
The facilities allow researchers to study protective clothing from several perspectives, including how equipment fits, how materials perform and how clothing affects the person wearing it.
During the past decade, WARP has received more than $5 million in research funding.
Projects have covered protective equipment design, medical textiles, material durability and clothing comfort physiology.
The new FEMA grant adds occupational cancer risk among women firefighters to that body of work.
By comparing protective gear fit with cancer biomarkers collected around live-fire training, researchers hope to gather information that could eventually influence how firefighter equipment is sized.
The research will specifically examine women, but the potential findings extend to the broader fire service because equipment fit and protection are central concerns for firefighters working in environments where toxic exposures can occur.
For McQuerry, one of the goals is to turn the findings into practical improvements.
If researchers can better understand how the fit of PPE affects exposure, that information could help guide future sizing standards and equipment design.
The project will now bring together expertise from FSU and the University of Arizona while collecting information from firefighters in four different parts of the country.
Ultimately, researchers hope the work will provide a clearer understanding of the connection between the protective equipment firefighters wear and the long-term health risks they face on the job.
