Days after he helped extinguish the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles, Pasadena Fire Captain David Marquez inhaled his first dose of glutathione on the side of the road outside the Rose Bowl stadium.
The wildfire became the second most destructive fire in California’s history, killing 19 and destroying 9,000 buildings.
“We were having trouble sleeping,” he said of his team. “Chronic cough, headache, fatigue – just a really rough set of symptoms following the fire.”
“I felt much better immediately after the worst exposure of my career,” said Marquez, a 25-year veteran of firefighting, who has battled with health issues for years.
“We were so desperate because of how messed up we were. We were willing to pretty much try anything,” he said.
Scientists have long known that inhaling toxic smoke from a fire can cause a huge range of illnesses, including several types of cancers. First responders, like firefighters, are especially susceptible. Firefighters have a 14% increased risk of dying from cancer, external compared to the general American population, according to the US National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.
And as awareness of the risks evolve, so too has interest in alternative – but often unproven and potentially dangerous – treatments.
Glutathione, an antioxidant that is naturally produced inside the human body, has been offered as a treatment at some of the largest US wildfires in recent years – including most recently in Spokane, Washington. Anecdotal evidence gathered by clinicians and fire departments has shown promising signs that it could be used to rid firefighters of some of the cancer-causing chemicals they absorb during fires. However, no large-scale research has yet been conducted on its safety and efficacy, and there are concerns over purity and contaminated supplies.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) issued a rare warning about glutathione last month. It noted two recent recalls due to contaminants at compounding pharmacies that produce glutathione. It also noted scientific trials of other common, naturally-occurring vitamins that were found to increase – rather than decrease – the risk of cancer, although none of those vitamins are used in glutathione treatment.
“We don’t know if glutathione is affective,” said Sean DeCrane, the assistant to the general president for health and safety at the IAFF, which represents over 360,000 firefighters across the US and Canada.
“We don’t know if it’s a placebo effect. We don’t know the long-term effect of this type of treatment.”
DeCrane said his group opposes the way it has been “marketed” to firefighters, including in Spokane where morning briefings fire chiefs to their crews included suggestions that they visit a volunteer tent for treatment.
“The lack of research really raised concerns for us,” he said. He adds that the IAFF has spoken to “multiple members who said that they did not feel well after the treatment, [and] that they felt worse.”
“The clinician told them, ‘Oh, that’s just those metals leaving your body’,” he said.
