United States Senator Charles Schumer brought his push for a national firefighters cancer registry to Rochester today, standing with dozens of Rochester area firefighters and local officials at the Truck Four Station House on University Avenue.
Schumer says firefighters are exposed to unknown toxins from burning materials every time they go to work. He says research indicates there may be a connection between firefighting and increased risk for several kinds of cancer including stomach, multiple myeloma and brain cancers.
Schumer wants the Centers for Disease Control to set up and manage a registry tracking all career and volunteer firefighters so researchers will have the data they need to help keep firefighters healthy.