![](https://emergencyservicestimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ESS-Button-resized.png")
The London Assembly has published a report setting out what London Fire Brigade has been doing in response to emerging concerns about firefighter exposure to harmful contaminants and how changes to health care approaches can reduce the risk of contracting cancer.
Launching the investigation in September 2025, the London Fire Committee sought “to understand how contaminant risks are manifesting in London, the evidence base linking these exposures to cancer, and what actions (locally or nationally) could help protect firefighters more effectively.”
The chair of the London Fire and Resilience Committee, Zack Polanksi AM acknowledged the existing work in this area, including that from the Fire Brigades Union and the University of Central Lancashire academic, Dr Anna Stec,
He said: “our intention in this investigation has been to contribute constructively to the growing body of work in this area and, above all, to support practical action that better safeguards the health and wellbeing of those who put themselves at risk to protect others.”
The report finds that contaminant exposure is not unique to London but that the capital’s firefighters may have higher cumulation of exposure due to the volume of fires attended relative to other services. “Given the varied nature of the exposure and the time it can
take for the linked health issues to emerge,” it states, “studies providing definitive evidence of direct causal links will also likely take some time.”
Directing a one of its eight recommendation at the National Fire Chiefs Council, the committee says that there should be a national health monitoring programme for UK firefighters. Starting in 2027, it should set national standards for contaminant exposure data collection and long-term health surveillance. The NFCC cannot compel fire and rescue services to do this and will rely on collective agreement that such a move is in the right direction to address the risks.
Responding to the publication of the report, FBU General Secretary Steve Wright called contaminant exposure “a national scandal.” He said the UK is decades behind other countries on this issues and that it is time for the government to stop ignoring the evidence and act.
One of the report’s recommendations is focused on prevention, setting out that LFB should “expand and promote high-gain, no-loss health initiatives that support positive lifestyle changes, including smoking cessation, physical fitness, diet, sleep hygiene, and alcohol awareness.” Wright responded to this by saying: “firefighters will rightly find the references to ‘lifestyle’ offensive. Firefighters are not getting sick because of personal choices – they are getting sick because they are being systematically exposed to toxic substances in the course of their work.”
Building the evidence base about exposure by London firefighters, the report also recommends that LFB should develop and commission a time-limited pilot exposure
monitoring programme to improve understanding of individual and cumulative exposure to hazardous contaminants.
The report also includes discussion about the role of personal protective equipment (PPE) and looks to the future procurement which should be “explicitly future-proofed to meet current and anticipated demands arising from fire contaminants policies, operational pressures and evolving best practice.” It also considers fire station design and the requirements of contamination control and decontamination processes which are also key features of the FBU’s Decon approach which sees fire stations zoned according to the status of the PPE on returning from incidents.
Read the full report – Exposure to fire contaminants in London: a hidden growing risk?
Listen to a discussion about the Swedish approach to managing fire contaminants which took place at The Emergency Services Show 2025.
