A 2015 retrospective longitudinal study showed that firefighters are at higher risk for certain types of cancer.
Firefighters had mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos exposure, at twice the rate of the non-firefighting working population.
Younger firefighters (under age 65) also developed bladder cancer and prostate cancer at higher rates than the general population.
The risk of bladder cancer may be present in female firefighters, but research is inconclusive as of 2014.
Preliminary research from 2015 on a large cohort of US firefighters showed a direct relationship between the number of hours spent fighting fires and lung cancer and leukemia mortality in firefighters.
This link is a topic of continuing research in the medical community, as is cancer mortality in general among firefighters.

Firefighters are exposed to a variety of carcinogens at fires, including both carcinogenic chemicals and radiation (alpha radiation, beta radiation, and gamma radiation).
A 2015 retrospective longitudinal study showed that firefighters are at higher risk for certain types of cancer. Firefighters had mesothelioma, which is caused by asbestos exposure, at twice the rate of the non-firefighting working population. Younger firefighters (under age 65) also developed bladder cancer and prostate cancer at higher rates than the general population. The risk of bladder cancer may be present in female firefighters, but research is inconclusive as of 2014. Preliminary research from 2015 on a large cohort of US firefighters showed a direct relationship between the number of hours spent fighting fires and lung cancer and leukemia mortality in firefighters. This link is a topic of continuing research in the medical community, as is cancer mortality in general among firefighters.
Firefighters are exposed to a variety of carcinogens at fires, including both carcinogenic chemicals and radiation (alpha radiation, beta radiation, and gamma radiation).
Firefighter