Evaluation of an Ozone Chamber as a Routine Method to Decontaminate Firefighters' PPE

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Firefighters' Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can retain toxic fire residues, posing health risks.
• Ozone chambers are proposed as a decontamination method for PPE.
• The effectiveness of ozone decontamination for firefighters' PPE requires thorough scientific evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficiency of ozone chambers in decontaminating firefighters' PPE.
• To investigate the chemical degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on PPE using ozone.
• To identify ozonolysis products and assess their potential toxicity.

Main Methods:

• Experiments were conducted in homogeneous (ozone in PAH solutions) and heterogeneous (ozone atmosphere on PPE) setups.
• Degradation of pyrene and 9-methylanthracene (PAHs) was studied.
• Ozonolysis products were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC), and Mass Spectrometry (MS).

Main Results:

• Ozone treatment led to partial chemical degradation of PAHs, forming oxygenated byproducts.
• Homogeneous experiments produced identifiable oxygenated PAHs like 4-oxapyren-5-one and phenanthrene-4,5-dicarboxaldehyde.
• Heterogeneous experiments showed less detectable oxidation, and significant amounts of original PAHs remained in both setups.

Conclusions:

• Ozone chambers demonstrate limited efficiency for complete decontamination of firefighters' PPE.
• Remaining PAHs and newly formed oxygenated PAHs may pose health risks to firefighters.
• Ozone chambers should not be relied upon as the sole method for decontaminating firefighters' PPE.