‘Environmentally Friendly’ Firefighting Foams Still May Be Toxic

The discovery that a key ingredient in firefighting foams was contaminating drinking water supplies—and costing billions in cleanup and legal fees—prompted a reformulation to a substitute designed to be less toxic.

But now the safety of that replacement compound is being questioned as a growing body of research suggests the foams developed with C-6 may be just as dangerous.

“These newer, C-6 based firefighting foams share many of the same characteristics, including significant toxicity concerns—although to date, they have yet to face the same scientific scrutiny,” David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group