- Local time
- 5:50 PM
- User ID
- 232
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2015
- Messages
- 9,193
- Reaction score
- 63,866
- Location
- Coastal Oregon
Man made are the killers. Of course there are carcinogenic compounds in every type of smoke, but if natural material smoke was deadly, no one could consume grilled food without cancer side effects.. The man made materials are very toxic when burned.
Mostly from structure fires/synthetic materials. Although everything is carcigenic when burned, the synthetic materials are absolutely terrible. Wildfire smoke has traditionally been thought to be relatively harmless, but emerging research is beginning to suggest otherwise.
I have been a volunteer many years and a full time paramedic for a third, county operated EMS service. Hence my screen handle! But, lung cancer in 2021 has changed all that. I am still alive though!
Lung Cancer is one of my main concerns. Two wildland guys (both long time "Hotshots") and one structural Captain I've known all died of lung cancer within the last few years. Even in forest fire smoke, they've found substantial amounts of heavy metals, Arsenic, Cyanide, and PBAs - all of which do terrible things to the body. They're also finding out the Structural guys absorb a lot of contaminants through their skin when entering buildings - any exposed skin gets laden with contaminants which make their way into the bloodstream in short order.