The Fire Brigades Union has agreed at its annual conference (12 May) to expand its work on the effects of fire contaminants – toxic substances produced by fires – on firefighters. In ongoing research with the University of Central Lancashire,…
Fire Department Service Announcement
Bulletin #53, PFAS Effects on Heart Health From David’s wife Kristi: When my boys were little, every night from the time they could talk, they asked me if their daddy was going to be home tomorrow. And I always said,…
Fire Department Service Announcement
Bulletin #52: Endocrine disrupting PFAS ‘The endocrine system, made up of all the body’s different hormones, regulates all biological processes in the body from conception through adulthood and into old age, including the development of the brain and nervous system,…
Fire Department Service Announcement
Bulletin #36, monitoring PFAS exposure in fire service personnel There is growing awareness and concern for the fire service and their exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This concern has led to several research efforts to study and better…
Removing PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ will be a costly undertaking for fire services, but help is at hand
A recent Environmental Protection Association (EPA) report, prepared by Sweco, shows the scale of the challenge when it comes to addressing the use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam in Ireland. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals commonly used in…
Fire Department Service Announcement – Bulletin #8: PFAS contamination at fire training sites, issued on 29 January 2021
States are taking action to determine PFAS contamination of fire training sites. Florida completed their firefighting foam survey in February 2020: ‘In 2018, DEP conducted a statewide survey of 45 certified fire training facilities. This survey gathered information regarding each…
Firefighters on the PFAS front
Firefighters have been on the front lines of firefighting foams containing PFAS chemicals for decades. Yet, they have not been informed and could still be unaware of PFAS toxicity issues. When the Foam Exposure Committee (FEC) began testing for total…
Foam Exposure Committee leading PFAS Research
The Foam Exposure Committee (FEC) is leading research into PFAS chemicals found in firefighting foam and how to best protect firefighters and the environment from these harmful substances. It has recently released of fluorine testing data on firefighting foams, with…