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Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Exposures, Effects, and Interventions: A Collaborative Research-to-Action Partnership with Firefighters

Award Number: R01ES035965
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/22/2024
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2028

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Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Exposures, Effects, and Interventions: A Collaborative Research-to-Action Partnership with Firefighters - Climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires which frequently extend into the wildland-urban interface (WUI). WUI fires burn a mixture of vegetation, structures and vehicles and there is a marked research gap regarding population exposures and health effects. Woodsmoke contains a toxic mixture of known and suspect carcinogens including but not limited to benzene, aldehydes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, wildland fire exposure monitoring has generally been limited to particulates for the general public and PAHs for firefighters. Firefighters, a high exposure group, are requesting participatory research to measure WUI fire exposures and effects and identify effective interventions. Silicone wrist bands can measure exposure beyond PAHs, and urine metabolomics can identify both exposures and effects. While cancer or other diseases caused by firefighting exposures can take many years to develop, metabolomic and epigenetic (microRNA and DNA methylation) endpoints can serve as sub-clinical biomarkers of toxicity. Interventions of firefighter interest include rapid provision of exposure data, improved personal protective equipment (PPE), more rapid dermal decontamination, and administrative controls. We hypothesize that: a) use of silicone wristbands and targeted urinary analyses (hydroxylated PAHs) will identify high-exposure settings and activities, and that untargeted metabolomics will reveal novel environmental compounds of concern; b) the urine metabolome and microRNAs will change acutely with exposures and cumulative exposures will be associated with long-term DNA methylation changes in firefighters; and c) interventions chosen by firefighters will significantly reduce exposures. We will test these hypotheses through evaluating firefighter exposures during WUI responses, measuring toxic effects, and evaluating interventions to reduce exposures. Our fire service research champions have enrolled Los Angeles County and Orange County firefighters who could respond to WUI fires in the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS), a fire service-academic community-engaged research collaborative. For the proposed research we will measure exposures of firefighters during WUI responses using silicone wristbands and pre- and post- exposure urine for targeted (hydroxylated PAHs) and untargeted (metabolomics) analyses. Occupational fireground characteristics (type of fire, PPE, time at fire, activities) will be recorded. Using urine and blood collected at baseline and post-exposure, we will evaluate acute effects with changes in endogenous metabolites (pre/post urine) and microRNA (pre/post blood). Longer-term changes in DNA methylation will be evaluated comparing baseline blood samples to three years afterwards. Exposure reduction interventions selected by the fire service will be evaluated comparing intervention and activity control groups with pre- and post-exposure wristband and urinary PAH metabolite measurements. We anticipate that the proposed research will provide a more complete measure of the WUI fire exposure and associated toxicity, and identify interventions that significantly reduce chemical exposures to firefighters and inform overall public health responses.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $784,185 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	845 N PARK AVE RM 538	TUCSON	AZ	85721	PIMA	USA	Environmental Health	000	2	3/11/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$784,185
														Subtotal = $784,185

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $758,188 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	845 N PARK AVE RM 538	TUCSON	AZ	85721	PIMA	USA	Environmental Health	000	1	2/22/2024	NEW	$758,188
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	845 N PARK AVE RM 538	TUCSON	AZ	85721	PIMA	USA	Environmental Health	001	1	5/16/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $758,188

Grand Total All Awards = $1,542,373

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Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Exposures, Effects, and Interventions: A Collaborative Research-to-Action Partnership with Firefighters

Award Number: R01ES035965

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 02/22/2024

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2028

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