Statement from Integrative Health Action Network on Firefighter Health and Glutathione Research
August 31, 2026
Firefighter safety and health come first. IHAN is a disaster relief organization built around a simple purpose: showing up to care for the people who care for our communities. Since the 2017 Tubbs Fire, our volunteer clinicians, licensed healthcare professionals who step away from their own practices, families, and communities during times of crisis, have responded alongside fire crews to support firefighters facing prolonged smoke and toxicant exposure.
Recent media coverage, and concerns raised within the fire service, have raised questions about the use of glutathione in our firefighter clinics. We welcome thoughtful scrutiny and open dialogue around this work. Greater attention to firefighter health, the risks of toxic exposures, and the evidence behind the care available to them can only help move this field forward, and that has always been central to IHAN’s mission. We are all working toward the same goal: protecting the health and well-being of the people who put themselves on the line to protect the rest of us.
Recent media coverage, and concerns raised within the fire service, have raised questions about the use of glutathione in our firefighter clinics. We welcome thoughtful scrutiny and open dialogue around this work. Greater attention to firefighter health, the risks of toxic exposures, and the evidence behind the care available to them can only help move this field forward, and that has always been central to IHAN’s mission. We are all working toward the same goal: protecting the health and well-being of the people who put themselves on the line to protect the rest of us.
Glutathione has decades of safe clinical use and is giving hope to firefighters
Glutathione has decades of standing in the medical literature, including published human studies and it is administered safely by physicians every day in the United States. It is a well-characterized therapeutic with an excellent safety record here and abroad. Glutathione has been studied for decades for its role as one of the body’s primary antioxidants and in protecting against oxidative stress and toxicant exposure, and it has a long history of clinical use in environmental and integrative medicine.
Over nearly a decade of responding alongside fire crews and providing thousands of treatments, IHAN has collected post-treatment outcome data and direct feedback from firefighters and first responders. Participants have consistently reported that our clinics are beneficial, including reported improvements in symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, brain fog, and overall well-being following prolonged exposure to smoke and toxic environments. A small number of participants reported no change or a different experience, which is expected with any treatment approach and is part of why we continue to track outcomes closely across deployments. We listen carefully to all of this feedback, because the lived experience of firefighters matters, in both the successes and the limits of what we offer. Firefighters deserve rigorous, independent evidence about the care offered to support their health and recovery.
IHAN's work is grounded in the premise that decades of clinical practice hold critical insight, and that surfacing this knowledge and bringing it together with researchers and medical professionals across disciplines is how we find real solutions to the cumulative impacts of occupational stress, toxic environmental exposures, and disaster response.That principle has guided our work from the beginning and continues to guide where we go from here.
What remains limited, and what we believe urgently needs to be studied, is rigorous clinical research specifically examining these interventions in firefighters exposed to the complex mixture of smoke, combustion byproducts, and other toxicants they encounter in the line of duty. Since 2021, we have called for gold-standard clinical research on glutathione as a primary intervention for firefighters exposed to these complex occupational hazards, conducted by a university with the appropriate infrastructure and expertise.
In 2022, glutathione was reviewed by FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee as part of the nomination process for the 503A Bulks List, and the committee voted in majority favor of adding it. Glutathione currently sits in FDA's Category 1 of bulk substances under evaluation, a promising status that reflects growing interest in its potential role in supporting recovery. As with any emerging area of clinical interest, we hold this with appropriate humility: rigorous clinical trials specific to wildfire smoke exposure in firefighters haven't yet been completed, and we look forward to the research continuing to build.
Glutathione has decades of standing in the medical literature, including published human studies and it is administered safely by physicians every day in the United States. It is a well-characterized therapeutic with an excellent safety record here and abroad. Glutathione has been studied for decades for its role as one of the body’s primary antioxidants and in protecting against oxidative stress and toxicant exposure, and it has a long history of clinical use in environmental and integrative medicine.
Over nearly a decade of responding alongside fire crews and providing thousands of treatments, IHAN has collected post-treatment outcome data and direct feedback from firefighters and first responders. Participants have consistently reported that our clinics are beneficial, including reported improvements in symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, brain fog, and overall well-being following prolonged exposure to smoke and toxic environments. A small number of participants reported no change or a different experience, which is expected with any treatment approach and is part of why we continue to track outcomes closely across deployments. We listen carefully to all of this feedback, because the lived experience of firefighters matters, in both the successes and the limits of what we offer. Firefighters deserve rigorous, independent evidence about the care offered to support their health and recovery.
IHAN's work is grounded in the premise that decades of clinical practice hold critical insight, and that surfacing this knowledge and bringing it together with researchers and medical professionals across disciplines is how we find real solutions to the cumulative impacts of occupational stress, toxic environmental exposures, and disaster response.That principle has guided our work from the beginning and continues to guide where we go from here.
What remains limited, and what we believe urgently needs to be studied, is rigorous clinical research specifically examining these interventions in firefighters exposed to the complex mixture of smoke, combustion byproducts, and other toxicants they encounter in the line of duty. Since 2021, we have called for gold-standard clinical research on glutathione as a primary intervention for firefighters exposed to these complex occupational hazards, conducted by a university with the appropriate infrastructure and expertise.
In 2022, glutathione was reviewed by FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee as part of the nomination process for the 503A Bulks List, and the committee voted in majority favor of adding it. Glutathione currently sits in FDA's Category 1 of bulk substances under evaluation, a promising status that reflects growing interest in its potential role in supporting recovery. As with any emerging area of clinical interest, we hold this with appropriate humility: rigorous clinical trials specific to wildfire smoke exposure in firefighters haven't yet been completed, and we look forward to the research continuing to build.
IHAN uses prescription-grade glutathione from carefully vetted pharmacies
Some coverage has referred to the glutathione used in our programs as a "supplement." We want to be clear and transparent about how it's actually used: the glutathione in IHAN's clinical care is prescribed and/or administered by licensed medical providers, predominantly as a compounded preparation given intravenously or by nebulization, under direct medical supervision. This is meaningfully different from over-the-counter dietary supplements, and we think that distinction matters.
Safety is central to how we operate, which is why we take the recent pharmacy recalls seriously. IHAN works only with trusted, carefully vetted compounding pharmacies, and none of our pharmacy partners were among those recalled. If anything, these recalls reinforce something we already hold as a core commitment: rigorous vetting of every partner we rely on, ongoing scrutiny of the medications we use, and a willingness to keep asking hard questions of our own supply chain. The people we serve deserve nothing less.
Some coverage has referred to the glutathione used in our programs as a "supplement." We want to be clear and transparent about how it's actually used: the glutathione in IHAN's clinical care is prescribed and/or administered by licensed medical providers, predominantly as a compounded preparation given intravenously or by nebulization, under direct medical supervision. This is meaningfully different from over-the-counter dietary supplements, and we think that distinction matters.
Safety is central to how we operate, which is why we take the recent pharmacy recalls seriously. IHAN works only with trusted, carefully vetted compounding pharmacies, and none of our pharmacy partners were among those recalled. If anything, these recalls reinforce something we already hold as a core commitment: rigorous vetting of every partner we rely on, ongoing scrutiny of the medications we use, and a willingness to keep asking hard questions of our own supply chain. The people we serve deserve nothing less.
We have clear protocols for tracking and handling adverse effects
Every medical intervention carries potential benefits and risks, and glutathione is no exception. As licensed providers, it is our duty to weigh those benefits and risks for each individual firefighter we treat, reviewing relevant medical history and contraindications, so the care we offer is appropriate and each person can make a fully informed decision about their health.
Glutathione has been studied for decades for its role as one of the body's primary antioxidants and its protective effect against oxidative stress and toxicant exposure, with a long history of clinical use in environmental and integrative medicine. It is contraindicated for individuals with active cancer or undergoing cancer treatment. Its strong long-term safety record was part of what supported its favorable review for inclusion on the FDA's Category 1 bulk compounding list. Across the thousands of treatments IHAN has provided since 2017, a small number of firefighters have reported temporary symptoms following treatment, including headaches, fatigue, nausea, or flu-like symptoms.
We take every report seriously. We assess participants clinically when symptoms occur, and we're continually strengthening our systems for systematically documenting outcomes and adverse events. Just as we listen carefully to the thousands of firefighters who have shared positive experiences with these treatments, we hold an equal responsibility to listen to and learn from those who experience an unwanted effect. When a patient reports an adverse effect, our medical lead speaks with them directly, and when warranted, we complete an incident report, involve our medical leadership team, and reflect on any changes needed to our protocols.
Every medical intervention carries potential benefits and risks, and glutathione is no exception. As licensed providers, it is our duty to weigh those benefits and risks for each individual firefighter we treat, reviewing relevant medical history and contraindications, so the care we offer is appropriate and each person can make a fully informed decision about their health.
Glutathione has been studied for decades for its role as one of the body's primary antioxidants and its protective effect against oxidative stress and toxicant exposure, with a long history of clinical use in environmental and integrative medicine. It is contraindicated for individuals with active cancer or undergoing cancer treatment. Its strong long-term safety record was part of what supported its favorable review for inclusion on the FDA's Category 1 bulk compounding list. Across the thousands of treatments IHAN has provided since 2017, a small number of firefighters have reported temporary symptoms following treatment, including headaches, fatigue, nausea, or flu-like symptoms.
We take every report seriously. We assess participants clinically when symptoms occur, and we're continually strengthening our systems for systematically documenting outcomes and adverse events. Just as we listen carefully to the thousands of firefighters who have shared positive experiences with these treatments, we hold an equal responsibility to listen to and learn from those who experience an unwanted effect. When a patient reports an adverse effect, our medical lead speaks with them directly, and when warranted, we complete an incident report, involve our medical leadership team, and reflect on any changes needed to our protocols.
We hope others will join us in advocating for more research into interventions and protect the long-term health of firefighters
Positive clinical experiences do not take the place of rigorous clinical trials. We are actively pursuing that next step: we are interviewing and evaluating potential California university research partners, alongside potential funders, with the goal of developing an IRB-reviewed clinical study to evaluate multimodal interventions, including IV and nebulized glutathione, in a firefighter cohort.
We encourage others to join us in advocating for more clinical research. Firefighters are facing increasingly complex exposures, and they deserve more research into interventions that may help protect their long-term health. We believe the appropriate response to gaps in the evidence is not to ignore what firefighters and clinicians are observing, nor to overstate what is currently known. It is to study those observations rigorously.
For nearly a decade, firefighters have trusted IHAN to show up for them during some of the most difficult moments of their careers. We take that trust seriously. Our commitment now is the same as it was when we began after the Tubbs Fire: listen to firefighters, follow the evidence, prioritize safety, and keep pushing for the research they deserve.
Positive clinical experiences do not take the place of rigorous clinical trials. We are actively pursuing that next step: we are interviewing and evaluating potential California university research partners, alongside potential funders, with the goal of developing an IRB-reviewed clinical study to evaluate multimodal interventions, including IV and nebulized glutathione, in a firefighter cohort.
We encourage others to join us in advocating for more clinical research. Firefighters are facing increasingly complex exposures, and they deserve more research into interventions that may help protect their long-term health. We believe the appropriate response to gaps in the evidence is not to ignore what firefighters and clinicians are observing, nor to overstate what is currently known. It is to study those observations rigorously.
For nearly a decade, firefighters have trusted IHAN to show up for them during some of the most difficult moments of their careers. We take that trust seriously. Our commitment now is the same as it was when we began after the Tubbs Fire: listen to firefighters, follow the evidence, prioritize safety, and keep pushing for the research they deserve.