Are there sex differences in physiological parameters and reaction time responses to overload in firefighters?

Perroni, Fabrizio; Cardinali, Ludovica; Cignitti, Lamberto; Gobbi, Erica; Grugni, Federico; Amatori, Stefano; Rocchi, Marco; Grandinetti, Luca; Lunetta, F.; Stocchi, Vilberto; Baldari, Carlo; Sisti, Davide; Guidetti, Laura

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249559

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Few studies have mentioned differences concerning occupational aspects between female and male firefighters. Perroni et al [ 46 ] reported that due to physiological sex differences, female firefighters have a higher level of physical demands to perform expected firefighter tasks. In addition, a working group of IARC recently concluded that a lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE) fitting is likely among females, which could result in more significant contamination and exposure [ 2 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Firefighters’ Occupational Exposure in Preparation for Wildfire Season: Addressing Biological Impact

Esteves,

Slezakova,

Madureira

et al. 2024

Toxics

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The characterization of wildland firefighters’ occupational exposure must consider different exposures, including those at the fire station. The present study aimed to characterize the occupational exposure of 172 Northern Portuguese wildland firefighters in fire stations during the pre-wildfire season of 2021. The biological impact of estimated inhaled doses of PM10 and PM2.5 (indoor/outdoor) was accessed through a buccal micronucleus cytome (BMCyt) assay in exfoliated buccal cells of a subgroup of 80 firefighters. No significant association was found between estimated inhaled doses of PM10 and PM2.5 (mean 1.73 ± 0.43 µg kg−1 and 0.53 ± 0.21 µg kg−1, respectively) and biological endpoints. However, increased frequencies of cell death parameters were found among subjects of the Permanent Intervention Teams (full-time firefighters). The intake of nutritional supplements was associated with a significant decrease in micronucleus frequencies (i.e., DNA damage or chromosome breakage). In addition, our findings showed a significantly increased frequency of cell death endpoints (i.e., nuclear fragmentation) with coffee consumption, while daily consumption of vegetables significantly decreased it (i.e., nuclear shrinkage). Our results provide data on the occupational exposure of wildland firefighters while working in fire stations during the pre-wildfire season, providing the essential baseline for further studies throughout the wildfire season.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Firefighters’ Occupational Exposure in Preparation for Wildfire Season: Addressing Biological Impact

Esteves,

Slezakova,

Madureira

et al. 2024

Toxics

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“…In recent years, the rate of female participation in physically demanding occupations such as the military and firefighting has increased (Anderson et al, 2022;Perroni et al, 2021), even reaching the 10-15% of wildland fire crews in the United States (Sol et al, 2018). Despite this fact, there is still a lack of studies on the role of sex in physical condition, work capacity and thermoregulation in professional sectors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory assessment of heat strain in female and male wildland firefighters

Leyenda¹,

Arroyo²,

Vicente³

et al. 2023

Cognitive Computing and Internet of Things

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Wildland firefighters (WFF) face a set of specific work-related factors that directly affect their physical and cognitive abilities and compromise their health and safety. The working conditions include hard physical work and environmental conditions that combine high temperatures and high radiant heat. Such environments make using personal protective equipment (PPE) mandatory to protect them from risks. This fact restricts heat removal and adds extra weight, increasing thermal strain and the risk of heat-related illnesses on WFF. Since the number of females WFF has increased, it is necessary to study the repercussions of heat stress on this group. To date, it is not yet well-known whether sex-related differences in thermoregulation will be relevant when the individuals are wearing PPE and performing high physical effort in a hot environment. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the physiological response when performing moderate to high-intensity effort in a hot-dry environment while wearing PPE according to sex. Twenty WFF 10 females [23.9 ± 3.2 yr, 163.8 ± 3.4 cm and 62.7 ± 9.1 kg] and 10 males [31.9 ± 6.6 yr, 178.8 ± 5.8 cm and 73.9 ± 7.7 kg]) performed a 125 min treadmill test in a controlled ambient (30 ºC and 30% relative humidity). The protocol consisted of two exercise stages where WFF performed different continuous and variable exercise bouts in order to mimic the effort performed during real deployments. Participants wore the full standard PPE during the test. Oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), core temperature (CT) and chest temperature (SkT) were monitored throughout the test. HR and CT were used to calculate the physiological strain index (PSI). Differences in body mass pre-post trials corrected for fluid intake were used to calculate sweat production (SwP), sweating rate (SwR), and evaporative efficiency (EE). Differences (p < 0.05) between females and males were found in %VO2max (62.5 ± 7.4 vs 55.3 ± 5.), HR (155 ± 10 vs 134 ± 14 beats·min–1), % of maximal HR (81.3 ± 3.5 vs 42.3 ± 6.5), CT (38.0 ± 10 vs 37.7 ± 0.33 ºC), SkT (36.0 ± 0.6 vs 35.3 ± 0.6 ºC) and PSI (4.1 ± 0.5 vs 3.5 ± 0.6). Even though SwR was higher (p < 0.05) for male participants (1001.5 ± 268.3 ml) compared to females (647.5 ± 145.9 ml), females had higher EE (32.9 ± 4.6 vs 16.7 ± 6.2 %). In conclusion, performing high-intensity exercise in hot-dry conditions while wearing PPE leads to a higher thermal and cardiovascular load for female WFF, making them more susceptible to heat illness. These results could be linked to lower aerobic fitness, sweating rate, and hormonal aspects that increased the thermal burden.

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Minimum perceptual time (MPT). Repeatability and reproducibility of variables applied to “sports vision”

Ríder-Vázquez,

Vega-Holm,

Sánchez-González

et al. 2024

Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol

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Are there sex differences in physiological parameters and reaction time responses to overload in firefighters?

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Firefighters’ Occupational Exposure in Preparation for Wildfire Season: Addressing Biological Impact

Firefighters’ Occupational Exposure in Preparation for Wildfire Season: Addressing Biological Impact

Laboratory assessment of heat strain in female and male wildland firefighters

Minimum perceptual time (MPT). Repeatability and reproducibility of variables applied to “sports vision”

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