Wildfires are putting firefighters at risk of cancer—scientists are working out how to help

At the time of writing in August, Canada had over 500 active wildfires that had burned 4.1 million hectares.1 In a warming world, this threat is being amplified, as warmer and drier climates can lead to longer and more active wildfire seasons.2 This has in turn increased the number of responders on the ground and their risk of developing cancer.Even with masks and protective equipment, firefighters’ bodies undergo extreme stress. The rescue workers are exposed to benzene, soot, and carcinogenic “forever chemicals,”3 says Sarah Jahnke, a senior scientist at the National Development and Research Institutes, who has been studying firefighters’ health markers for nearly two decades.In 2022 a working group of 25 international experts associated with the International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluated firefighting as carcinogenic to humans.4 And in the past decade a body of emerging research has stacked evidence of occupational exposure among firefighters and their increased…