Dear Brother/Sister,
DECON campaign: firefighters’ exposure to fire contaminants at Grenfell Tower
This is to inform you of further developments in the union’s DECON campaign.
New independent research, assisted by the Fire Brigades Union, has been published finding that
over a quarter of surveyed firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower fire are now suffering from
long-term health disorders.
The research, carried out by Professor Anna Stec and the University of Central Lancashire
analysed available data from 524 of 628 firefighters who attended the disaster in its early stages.
The report, over two papers, can be found in full, here:
Firefighters’ Activities and Their Exposure to Fire Smoke and Heat
Toxic Effluents and Assessment of Firefighters’ Health Impacts
The research, published in the Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine on 3 January
found that:
• 136 firefighters who were exposed to toxic smoke at Grenfell are now suffering from
occupational diseases
• 1 in 4 Grenfell firefighters surveyed have reported life changing health effects since, including
66 cases of digestive diseases, 64 respiratory diseases, 22 neurological diseases and 11
cancers
• Firefighters were exposed to smoke and particulate matter at far higher levels than the limit
set by the Health and Safety Executive
• Over three times as many firefighters who were exposed to smoke during the incident
reported digestive and respiratory diseases in the three years following, compared to those
who were not exposed.
The report also warns that the full health impact of the Grenfell Tower fire is still unknown, with
many cancers and diseases likely to take years more to develop.
Firefighters who attended Grenfell report similar health symptoms to the firefighters who responded
to the collapse of the World Trade Centre. Following 9/11, a life-long health monitoring programme
was set up for emergency responders and the local community, which has enabled early diagnosis
and treatment of cancers and other diseases, saving lives.
The papers make a number of recommendations:
• Emergency services need better preparation for dealing with predictable and unforeseen
incidents such as the Grenfell Tower fire.
• Detailed logging of activities and conditions endured during major incidents, together with
immediate health symptoms and longer-term health outcomes, need to be routinely recorded.
• Detailed health monitoring of all exposed emergency service personnel should be undertaken
over an extended postexposure period (a minimum of 10 years).
Please read and discuss the reports on all branches. The findings and recommendations further
illustrate the urgent need for the union’s DECON demands of prevention, health monitoring and
legislation to support and protect firefighters from these occupational diseases.
The union will be meeting with the Home Office later this month to discuss the report and its
findings. We also expect to have the final data from clinical testing carried out by Professor Anna
Stec’s team which has analysed 1000 blood and urine samples taken from Firefighters.
Further updates on the next steps in the DECON campaign will follow in due course.
Yours in unity,
Matt Wrack
General Secretary
