Nearly half of Casa Grande's hazmat team have elevated levels of arsenic.
The results were discovered during the firefighters' annual heavy metal tests, CBS5 reported.
Chief Dave Kean said with six of the seven firefighters assigned to the same fire station, bottled water was provided and an independent lab started tests.
The water was OK. So, now he's trying to figure out what's causing it.
“We are doing some, lack of a better term, contact tracing. What we are doing, we are compiling a spreadsheet if there is some sort of commonality; maybe they all live in the same area.”
None of the firefighters became ill.
Dr. Shad Marvasti told reporters that just because firefighters aren’t experiencing symptoms now doesn’t mean it can’t lead to serious health complications.
“Arsenic is a known carcinogenic, so it can increase your risk for a number of cancers, bladder cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed."
Finding the source, he said, is vital.
