Family Life

11.24.10 | Sarah Harnisch

  A Cincinnati study has found male firefighters are 100 times more likely than other men to contract testicular cancer. The study could have an impact on how pennsylvania firefighters are paid. It's because of the chemicals they are exposed to. Now, union leaders have urged Gov. Ed Rendell to sign a bill that would make it easier for firefighters to qualify for health-care coverage... even after retirement. The bill, which rose and fell through years of revision and negotiation before winning overwhelming legislative approval in Harrisburg this fall, would establish that certain cancers are "a work hazard" for the roughly 65,000 volunteer and 7,000 paid firefighters in Pennsylvania. Those brave men and women are exposed to toxins virtually any time they enter a burning building.