Firefighting Gear Without PFAS Heads to North American Cities

Two North American cities are moving forward with the purchase of firefighting gear that has no intentionally added PFAS, a key development for manufacturers who have faced legal liability over the presence of the forever chemicals in their equipment.

Vancouver, Canada, and Concord, N.H., are the first North American cities to commit public funds to purchase personal protective gear made without per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), Neil McMillan, director of science and research with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union, said in recent interviews.

The development follows political, legal, and financial pressure over the risks associated with the equipment. Driven by the fear of PFAS exposure adding to the cancer risk they already face, firefighters have successfully pushed for studies of their PFAS exposures, filed toxic torts against the companies that make the chemicals and gear, and purchased pieces of protective clothing, like gloves, as they became available without PFAS.

Now that the final layer of protective clothing is available without the chemicals, and was recently certified to national standards, cities and their fire departments can start purchasing complete sets of gear, which the IAFF says costs between $4,000-$6,000 and has to be replaced every 5-10 years.

The Vancouver City Council in Canada approved on Tuesday a $2.8 million Canadian dollar (US $2 million) purchase of firefighters’ “turnout,” gear made without intentionally added PFAS.

That funding—on top of nearly C$1 million the Vancouver Fire Rescue Services plans to spend from existing funds—brings the total to C$3.7 million (US $2.7 million), which is sufficient to provide gear to the entire staff that puts out fires, according to a report Vancouver Fire Chief Karen Fry provided the council.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services anticipates that it will begin receiving gear in the next four to six months and that the entire department will have their gear by January 2025, Fry told the council Tuesday.

“We are at the front of the line in North America for this so we are holdings spots on the production,” Fry said.

In the US, the Concord, N.H., city council authorized $305,000 on March 12 to help its Concord Fire Department purchase 92 sets of gear made without PFAS.

Added to $35,000 the fire department already set aside, the funds will allow “everyone that uses gear to get a new set of PFAS-free gear,” said Fire Chief John Chisholm in an interview. The department has ordered the gear and expects to be among the first in the US to receive it, he said.

“Words cannot describe how elated we are,” Justin Kantar, a firefighter and paramedic who’s the president of Concord’s IAFF Local 1045, said. “Between current and retired firefighters, we have 37 men and woman who currently have, are in remission, or have since passed away due to occupational cancer.”

Recent innovations from industry textile suppliers have enabled Globe Manufacturing Co. to obtain fabrics that have been tested and certified to meet National Fire Protection Association standards without added PFAS, said Bob Apel, business leader for the company Globe Manufacturing Co., a part of gear manufacturer MSA Safety Inc.

“Globe sources technical fabrics that have been tested and certified to meet NFPA standards and does not manufacture PFAS or use them in making our products,” Apel said.

Cancer Risks

MSA, Honeywell International Inc., W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., and other companies that produced fabrics for or stitched firefighting gear together traditionally have used PFAS because of the chemicals’ stability and water and heat resistance. Those characteristics made them ideal for firefighter gear.

Yet over the last 20 years, scientific studies and organizations have found associations between higher PFAS exposure and health problems including cancer—adding to a risk firefighters know too well.

Firefighting itself can cause cancer, the World Health Organization concluded in 2022, pointing to mesothelioma and bladder cancer in particular.

Last year 72% of firefighters’ deaths among IAFF members were from occupational cancer, Fry’s report said. “In Canada, this figure was nearly 94%.”

IAFF stopped accepting funds from companies making PFAS or textiles and gear containing the chemicals in 2021 after Bloomberg Law reported that it had received at least $420,000 from those businesses since 2016. Union members passed a resolution that was part of IAFF’s steadily increasing pressure.

The union sued the National Fire Protection Association Inc. (NFPA) in the Massachusetts Superior Court last year saying its firefighting gear standard effectively required companies use carcinogens.

Justice Kenneth W. Salinger allowed the case to proceed last month although he dismissed IAFF’s claim that the association conspired with gear manufacturers.

Individual firefighters also have filed thousands of personal injury lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers, textile producers, and gear manufacturers.

Many of those lawsuits have been transferred into In Re Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation MDL 2873, a multidistrict case focused on a PFAS-containing firefighting suppressant to which firefighters also have been exposed that’s moving toward personal injury trials.

Firefighters’ pressure isn’t letting up any time soon.

Gear, which manufacturers say is made without PFAS, is being tested to verify those claims, McMillan said.

IAFF also has enrolled members in five cities to wear the gear and evaluate its performance, breathability, and other critical characteristics, he said. “To date, our preliminary information shows that members have fought structure fires in these garments with no notable differences identified.”

Ontario, Canada’s largest province, pledged C$30 million (US $22 million) over three years on March 26 in a budget for fire department equipment. Firefighters want that money to help reduce cancer risks, Rob Grimwood, president of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, said in a recent interview.

The association will ask the government to spend it on washing machines needed to remove contaminants from gear and new turnout gear without PFAS, said Grimwood, deputy chief of Mississauga Fire & Emergency Services.

Regulations

Canada’s federal government is deciding whether to categorize about 4,700 types of PFAS as a toxic class of chemicals under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which would expand the government’s ability to limit the use of them.

As part of the decision, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada will release this spring a final document on risk management outlining priorities for tackling products made with PFAS, said Cassie Barker, senior program manager for toxics at Environmental Defence, a Canadian advocacy group.

Last year’s draft priorities proposed to use regulatory and non-regulatory controls to minimize exposure from firefighting foams and to gather information on and identify reducing exposure from other sources and products. The final report could say whether firefighting turnout gear also is a priority, Barker said.

IAFF supports Canada classifying all PFAS as toxic, said McMillan, the union’s science director. “The class definition is so important because it will be comprehensive.”

—With assistance from Andrew Wallender