Researchers To Test Toxin Levels Of NorCal Firefighters

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA -- Health officials and researchers will begin examining the toxin levels Northern California firefighters may have been exposed to as they battled the four wildfires that devastated the region last month. The study will be conducted by UC researcher Rachel Morello-Frosch and the California’s Departments of Health and Human Services and Toxic Substances Control, according to a report by The San Francisco Chronicle.

Blood and urine samples will be pulled from 175 firefighters from San Francisco, Santa Clara County and North Bay, according to the article.

Tony Stefani, of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, told the newspaper some of the firefighters were on the frontlines for "six to 10 days straight."

The wildfires that killed at least 42 people damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 structures and burned tens of thousands of acres across four counties.

Watch: California Crews Are Clearing Wildfire Debris

Photo: Firefighter Chris Oliver walks between grape vines as a helicopter drops water over a wildfire burning near a winery Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, California. / CREDIT: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press