What the data your department never kept could have told you
Ask a woman in the fire service if the job affects her ability to have kids, and she'll probably say something she heard secondhand, a miscarriage nobody talked about, a friend on fertility treatment nobody asked about. Ask her department for the exposure data behind it, and there usually isn't any. That gap is the problem this Insight is about.
What the Research Actually Shows
This isn't speculation. It's a decade-plus of published, peer-reviewed work — led largely by women scientists who came out of the fire service themselves, including Dr. Brittany Hollerbach and Dr. Sara Jahnke through the Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research (CFREHR/NDRI-USA), and the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS).
2–2.3× | ↓ AMH | Preterm |
| Higher miscarriage rate among women firefighters vs. general population | Lower anti-Müllerian hormone (ovarian reserve marker) linked to PTSD & anxiety | Elevated preterm birth risk tied to occupational exposure factors |
- Mental health is reproductive health — A 2024 Journal of Women's Health study led by University of Arizona (Valenti, Farland, Hollerbach, Jahnke, et al.) found that PTSD and anxiety were associated with lower AMH levels among women firefighters — a direct line from behavioral health to fertility, not a side note.
- Miscarriage and preterm birth — CFREHR and FFCCS research (Hollerbach, Jahnke, and colleagues) has repeatedly documented elevated miscarriage rates, higher preterm birth rates, and gaps in maternal and child health outcomes among women firefighters.
- It's not just the person carrying the gear — The National Birth Defects Prevention Study (Siegel, Rocheleau, Hollerbach, et al.) found paternal firefighting was associated with elevated risk of birth defects in offspring — reproductive exposure isn't a women-only issue, it's a household issue.
- The advocacy side — The Beltane Guild — a nonprofit built by firefighters, for firefighters — has made the case plainly: heat, shift-driven sleep disruption, chemical and combustion byproduct exposure, and chronic stress all stack up against fertility, for men and women alike. Their work spans policy consulting, fertility treatment grants, and research aggregation.
Zero peer-reviewed articles on women firefighters existed before 1981. As of 2024, there were 183. The research caught up fast. Department practice hasn't.
Why This Is an Exposure-Tracking Problem
Every finding above shares the same weak link: nobody was logging the exposure at the time it happened. A firefighter can tell her OB she "probably" hit a bad fire two years ago. She can't tell her which fire, what she was wearing, how long she was in it, or whether she decontaminated. Research studies work in aggregate and after the fact. Individual firefighters need something that works in real time, for them, specifically.
That's the gap Exposure Tracker closes.
How Exposure Tracker Applies Here
- Documentation you can hand to a doctor — A dated, specific record of fires, chemical exposures, rehab/decon compliance, and PPE condition creates the paper trail a reproductive endocrinologist, OB, or fertility specialist actually needs — instead of a firefighter trying to reconstruct her last two years of runs from memory in an exam room.
- Documentation you can hand to a comp claim — Miscarriage, infertility, and pregnancy complications tied to occupational exposure are increasingly the subject of presumptive illness and workers' comp discussions. A logged exposure history is evidence. An unlogged one is an anecdote.
- Documentation that supports family planning, not just filing — A firefighter planning a pregnancy — or trying to figure out why she isn't getting pregnant — can look at her own exposure pattern instead of guessing. That's a materially different conversation with a provider than "I've been a firefighter for eight years."
- Documentation that could matter beyond your own care — Better individual-level exposure data is what reproductive health research needs to move from association to dose-response, how much exposure, over what timeframe, does what. The more firefighters document, the stronger that case becomes for future research.
The Bottom Line
The fire service spent decades assuming women's reproductive health was a personal issue instead of an occupational one. The research says otherwise. Departments that still don't track exposure by individual, by incident, are asking their members to fight that fight with no data of their own. Exposure Tracker won't answer every question. But it makes sure you're not walking into that conversation with nothing.
Additional Resources
Women in Fire provides ongoing resources on women’s health within the fire service. Registration is open for the Women in Fire International Conference 2026.
Science to the Station translates peer-reviewed research into practical, actionable resources built for the fire service. There is still time to register for the Science to the Station Conference 2026.
The Beltane Guild is a nonprofit built by firefighters, for firefighters, offering policy consulting, fertility treatment grants, and research resources on reproductive health for both men and women in the fire service.
Sources & Further Reading
Valenti et al., "Evaluating the Effect of Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD on Anti-Müllerian Hormone Levels Among Women Firefighters," Journal of Women's Health (2024). Siegel, Rocheleau, Hollerbach et al., "Birth Defects Associated with Paternal Firefighting," National Birth Defects Prevention Study, American Journal of Industrial Medicine (2023). Hollerbach, Jahnke et al., Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS) — Health and Wellness of Women Firefighters. The Beltane Guild (thebeltaneguild.org) — reproductive health policy consulting, fertility grants, and research aggregation for the fire service. Women in Fire (womeninfire.org) and CFREHR/NDRI-USA — Science to the Station reproductive health resources.