A number of published scientific studies suggest a link between firefighting and the development of cancer. One of the most telling are the results from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) 2010 multi-year study evaluating cancer in firefighters. The results found that mostly digestive, oral, respiratory, and urinary cancers were found in firefighters. The study also identified that there was a two-fold excess of malignant mesothelioma, a very rare cancer. NIOSH identified the most common cancers diagnosed among firefighters, but there are additional cancers associated with firefighting.

The NIOSH study identified that firefighters have a 9% greater chance of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% greater chance of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population.

Significant legislative gains have been made at the state level through the work of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey (PFANJ), the state-level affiliate of the IAFF.  After years of work by the PFANJ and its members, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Thomas P. Canzanella Twenty First Century First Responders Protection Act into law in July 2019. Under previously existing law, first responders and firefighters had the burden of proving causation for their illnesses, which often required a significant expense of time and resources. This new law reforms New Jersey’s workers’ compensation law to create a rebuttable presumption of coverage for public safety workers for certain illnesses. For firefighters, those with seven or more years of service who suffer an injury, illness or death caused by certain types of medical conditions would not be required to demonstrate causation or exposure before receiving medical benefits and financial compensation.