Effort to Rid Fire Gear of ‘Forever Chemicals’ Fails Key Vote

An emergency measure to eliminate a testing requirement that all but requires the use of toxic “forever chemicals” in firefighters’ protective garments was rejected by an association that sets fire safety standards.

The vote by the National Fire Protection Association’s Standards Council means hundreds of thousands of firefighters across the country must continue to wear safety equipment that has been shown to contain large amounts of potentially cancer-causing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

At issue is a strenuous safety test established in 2006 that requires the inner liner, or moisture barrier, of firefighter gear to maintain water resistance after ...