‘Alarming’ federal study shows how firefighter gear releases forever chemicals on the job

Firefighters have long been expected to scale ladders, endure intense heat, and rummage through debris.

They’ve had little sense, though, of what effect those activities might have on the dangerous chemicals that lurk within their protective equipment.

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A new government study offers some clues. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that the PFAS-treated textiles in firefighters’ jackets and pants tend to release more PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, when subjected to wear and tear, or exposed to high temperatures.

“In general, we found that distressing [the fabric] does lead to an increase in the measurable amount of PFAS,” said Rick Davis, a materials research engineer in the institute’s Fire Research Division.

The so-called forever chemicals have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility and immunity, and increased risks of asthma and thyroid disease. PFAS exist in a range of everyday items, from nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets to waterproof clothing and artificial turf.

Cancer is a leading cause of death for firefighters. A National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health study of 30,000 firefighters who worked in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco between 1950 and 2009 found that firefighters had a 14% higher chance of dying of the disease than the general U.S. population. (The CDC maintains a national registry for understanding and reducing cancer among firefighters.)

As part of its study, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) obtained 21 pieces of fabric that are commonly used in firefighters’ turnout gear. Researchers identified 51 different PFAS in those samples, using a solvent to extract the chemicals from the material.

The samples were stressed using four techniques: abrasion, heat, laundering and weathering. The weathering was simulated by exposing the textiles to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and high humidity.

NIST’s study, which began in 2020, shows that abrasions caused measurements of the total concentration of PFAS in the material to increase by 213%, while exposing the fabric to simulated weathering led to a 177% increase.

“The NIST study confirms that our bunker gear — the very gear meant to keep us safe — is full of toxic PFAS chemicals,” said Ed Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union with 334,000 members in the U.S. and Canada. “Corporate interests and even some in the fire service have tried to minimize this danger, but independent scientists, government agencies, and international organizations have all come to the same conclusion: It’s critical to reduce firefighter exposure to PFAS.”

Davis said researchers expected to find PFAS on fabric that’s used in the outer shells of protective jackets and pants. But the chemicals were also found in material that’s used for a middle layer, called a moisture barrier, and in a thermal layer — the innermost portion, which can press against firefighters’ skin.

“We didn’t think there’d be a lot of PFAS in the thermal layer,” he said. “There’s no reason for that to have any water repellency.”

(In 2007, the National Fire Protection Association, an international organization that sets standards for firefighting equipment and training, adopted a guideline that required the moisture barrier to be able to withstand ultraviolent light for 40 hours without degrading. PFAS-treated textiles were the only material that could withstand the test.)

Graham Peaslee, a University of Notre Dame physicist, first determined that firefighters’ equipment contained PFAS in 2018, after he studied 43 pieces of new and used turnout gear.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) last year introduced legislation that called for the federal government to spend more than $100 million to research and develop PFAS-free turnout gear.

“This alarming study proves the urgent action we must take to protect hero firefighters across the country,” Fitzpatrick, the cochair of the bipartisan PFAS Task Force, wrote in a statement to The Inquirer.

Congress, he said, needs to do everything it can to “require firefighting gear to be free from these dangerous ‘forever’ chemicals.”

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Some manufacturers have taken note of the growing opposition to PFAS.

Last spring, during a firefighting conference in Indianapolis, Stedfast, a Canadian-based manufacturer of turnout gear, announced that it had developed a PFAS-free moisture barrier.

Davis said NIST’s study did not explore how forever chemicals might move between layers of protective gear.

“If PFAS can migrate, then it’s inside, right next to the firefighter,” he said. “If it migrates — and maybe it does — should it be of concern for dermal exposure? That’s another question, really.”

Mike Bresnan, the president of Philadelphia’s IAFF Local 22, said NIST’s study is further proof that firefighters’ gear should be replaced more frequently, “to make sure our members have the best protection possible.”

“It just seems like every other week, every other month, another person has got this type of cancer, that type of cancer,” he said. “So we look for all precautions and protections we could possibly get to protect our members and our families.”

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Bresnan hopes Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will address his members’ concerns about PFAS in their turnout gear. He also wants to know how Parker’s administration will treat compensation claims from firefighters who believe they developed cancer from carcinogens that they’d been exposed to on the job.

Local 22 had accused Parker’s predecessor, Mayor Jim Kenney — the son of a late Philly firefighter — of denying too many claims. Kenney’s administration disputed that characterization.

Pennsylvania amended its Workers’ Compensation Act in 2011 so that firefighter cancer cases are presumed to be job-related, provided that the firefighters worked in the profession for at least four years and were exposed to a carcinogen. If their compensation claims are approved, firefighters’ survivors receive heftier pensions and lifetime medical benefits.

“Cancer is one of the deadliest battles firefighters are facing,” said Kelly, the IAFF president, “and there is no doubt PFAS contributes to the high rates of occupational cancer we are seeing in the fire service.”