An Advisory Aimed at a Tent on the Fire Line
A firefighters' union representing roughly 360,000 first responders has told its members to be cautious about a supplement being offered to crews at wildfire camps, delivered via intravenous drip or nebulizer, that no regulator has approved for this purpose.
The International Association of Firefighters issued the safety advisory last week, warning that because glutathione is not an FDA-approved drug, "consumers should be cautious about product safety" and about claims that it treats or prevents disease.
The advisory followed the supplement's promotion during the wildfires that burned hundreds of buildings in and around Spokane, Washington, according to the Associated Press. During morning briefings, medical unit leaders on scene from California urged crews to check out a tent where a nonprofit run by licensed naturopathic doctors was offering it.
This is not the group's first fire camp. The Integrative Health Action Network previously provided the supplement to firefighters during last year's Los Angeles County wildfires, and its work with firefighters began after a 2017 fire that destroyed thousands of homes in California's wine country. What changed this month is that the safety question is no longer theoretical. At least two pharmacies recalled glutathione in August after finding bacterial contamination during their own laboratory testing, with one reporting that people had experienced fever, chills, and severe headache.
Two Delivery Routes, Two Different Hazards
The advisory names both an IV and a nebulizer, and the distinction is not cosmetic. Each route carries its own risk profile, and conflating them understates the problem.
Injection is the contamination route. Glutathione for these uses is prepared in sterile compounding pharmacies, and there have been documented cases of people being poisoned because of contamination at such facilities, said Dr. Cora Sack, a pulmonary specialist in environmental and occupational lung disease at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Injecting a contaminated product could produce fevers, low blood pressure, inflammatory reactions, anaphylactic shock, and death, according to the recent recall notices.
Inhalation carries a different problem. Inhaling glutathione via a nebulizer may constrict the airways in people with asthma or chronic lung disease. That is a meaningful concern in a population whose airways have already been irritated by days of smoke, and it is the opposite of the intended effect.
The IAFF has also received reports that some firefighters felt worse or became sick after treatment, said Sean DeCrane, the union's assistant to the general president for health and safety. He said medical treatments marketed to firefighters should be evaluated and tested to confirm there are no unintended consequences.
MedicalDaily reported earlier this month that a second Texas pharmacy recalled glutathione within two weeks after reactions were reported across 14 states, a separate thread from the firefighter advisory that describes the same underlying manufacturing vulnerability.
The Biology Is Plausible, Which Is Precisely the Trap
The reason this is a hard story rather than a simple one is that the rationale is not absurd. It is untested, which is another matter.
Glutathione is an antioxidant that the body makes mostly in the liver, and it neutralizes unstable molecules that damage cells. Wildfire smoke generates oxidative stress. There is, Sack said, an interesting biological plausibility to the idea that an antioxidant could affect that process. She described the anecdotal claims as provocative and deserving of study while noting that "we lack clinical evidence of its efficacy."
Luke Montrose, a Colorado State University professor whose research covers wildfire smoke and disease risk, made a similar point, noting that glutathione has anti-inflammatory properties but adding that "because it hasn't been studied, I'm hesitant."
Firefighters who used it describe real relief. Pasadena Fire Captain Matt Caffey, a paramedic for 28 years who worked the Eaton fire last year, described smoke exposure from burning neighborhoods as causing coughing, vomiting, and brain fog. "You can't remember things," he said. He asked the naturopathic group to come to Spokane. In 2025, the California Board of Pharmacy reversed course on regulations that would have made the supplement harder to obtain, after pushback from some firefighters.
Those accounts are not proof, and they are also nothing. They are the reason a trial is warranted, not a reason to skip one. In response to the advisory, Jen Riegle, a naturopathic doctor and co-founder of The Integrative Health Action Network, said the organization recognizes the need for peer-reviewed research on whether glutathione can reduce chemical burdens in firefighters and is "actively exploring partnerships to that end."
The Exposure Problem This Is Trying to Solve
None of this makes sense without the underlying occupational reality, which is genuinely severe and largely unaddressed.
Wildland firefighters work in conditions that make a respirator with an oxygen tank impractical, so they breathe in what is burning. DeCrane described exposure to a wide range of chemicals with both short- and long-term health effects. When fires move through neighborhoods rather than forests, the smoke contains combustion products from appliances, batteries, and household chemicals, and it is considerably more toxic than smoke from vegetation fires. Research continues to document wide-ranging harms from wildfire smoke, and tens of thousands of deaths in the United States each year are attributed to its long-term effects.
That gap is the market. A workforce with a documented, serious, poorly mitigated exposure and no approved treatment is exactly where unvalidated interventions find willing users, and the willingness is rational rather than gullible.
What remains unresolved is whether glutathione does anything at all in response to this exposure. No clinical trial has answered that. Regulators have not evaluated it for this use, and the recalls address contamination rather than efficacy. Firefighters who have used the product and felt unwell should tell a clinician what they received and how they took it, since that history changes the evaluation. Departments weighing whether to allow such offerings on scene now have a union position to work from, and the practical question for any crew member is not whether the exposure is real but whether an untested product is the right response to it.
Key Questions Answered
What did the union warn about? The International Association of Firefighters advised members that glutathione, when administered IV or via nebulizer, is not an FDA-approved drug and that claims it treats or prevents disease should be treated with caution.
Why now? The supplement was offered to crews working on the Spokane-area wildfires this month, and at least two pharmacies recalled glutathione in August after detecting bacterial contamination.
What are the specific risks? Injecting a contaminated product could cause fever, low blood pressure, inflammatory reactions, anaphylactic shock, or death. Inhaling it through a nebulizer may constrict the airways of people with asthma or chronic lung disease.
Does glutathione work for smoke exposure? No clinical trial has shown that it does. Experts describe a plausible biological rationale but say evidence of benefit is lacking.
Why are firefighters using it then? Their smoke exposure is real, severe, and poorly mitigated, and some report feeling better afterward. Those accounts are anecdotal and were not collected under study conditions.
What should a firefighter who used it do? Tell a clinician what was received and by which route, particularly if symptoms followed. That history affects how a clinician evaluates fever, breathing problems, or other reactions.
Is anyone studying this? The naturopathic group that provided the supplement says it recognizes the need for peer-reviewed research and is exploring partnerships. No results exist yet.
