A new study shows firefighters are more prone to getting cancer because of the necessities of their job. Now a Connecticut senator is proposing a bill that could potentially help monitor firefighters health in order to help increase cancer awareness.
Vice President of the Hartford Firefighter Association Russell Cook said he's seen a lot of fires in his 14 years. But it's the invisible toxins hidden in billowing smoke that worries him for the future
"There is different routes of exposure. We can get it through our skin even through our hands when we touch our dirty gloves. There’s so many different ways,” said Vice President of the Hartford Firefighter Association Russell Cook.
Cook along with his comrades crowded outside Hartford’s South Green Station Friday morning as senator Richard Blumenthal introduced the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act.
The act would introduce a health database for firefighters to voluntarily share information with the CDC. The database aims at monitoring potential risks and causes of cancer from fighting fires.
"Cancer is a cause for concern for every firefighter who runs into a burning building,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal.
A five year study headed the by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shows firefighters are more prone to getting digestive, oral, respiratory, and urinary cancers. Also, the study shows the more runs firefighters make, the higher the chance of death from leukemia.
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"It's an opportunity to track during our entire careers, this is where I may have been exposed to this, this is how I could've gotten cancer,” said Cook.
Blumenthal did not have the exact cost of the database and says the program would make use of computer systems the CDC already has.
As for cook who knows looks can be deceiving. He hopes the database finds hidden risks and trends he may miss.
"When we leave we expect to be safe, we expect to be healthy…We don't know what we're taking home with us,” said Cook.
If passed, Connecticut would be the first state to have this database. Blumenthal said it could be up by the end of the year.
