There have been growing concerns about the negative effects of AFFF on the environment and human health, due to the durable nature of PFAS, which do not break down over time. There is a potential for prolonged exposure to PFAS in firefighter foam solutions, in high concentrations, to result in a buildup of the substances in the body, which can have adverse health consequences for exposed individuals. PFOA, one of the two main chemicals found in AFFF, has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as possibly carcinogenic in humans. As a result of occupational exposure to PFAS in AFFF, firefighters may face an elevated risk of cancer and other potentially life-threatening side effects. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Cancer Society have all suggested that there is evidence that exposure to certain PFAS may be linked to an increased risk of cancer in firefighters. In fact, it was way back in 2012 that the EPA identified PFOA and PFOS as “emerging contaminants,” or chemicals characterized by a “perceived, potential or real threat to human health or the environment or by a lack of published health standards.” And research published in 2009 and 2010 warned that exposure to PFOA and PFOS may disrupt fertility and increase the risk of thyroid disease in humans. The chemicals have even been found in the breast milk of mothers exposed to high concentrations of PFAS. Sadly, residents of the communities in which firefighter foam was used may also be at risk for toxic exposure to PFAS from AFFF runoff, which can move through soil and contaminate well water, groundwater and drinking water supplies. 

Wastewater treatment plants, manufacturing facilities, fuel-spill sites and military bases have all been identified as sources of PFAS contamination from AFFF and the communities nearby locations such as these have suffered adverse health consequences and damages to property and natural resources as a result of PFAS exposure. In 2019, the DoD identified a whopping 401 sites on active and former military bases and National Guard facilities with potentially harmful levels of PFAS contamination, and that number continues to grow. Since 2016, the DoD only uses AFFF on ships and in response to emergency events on land and the agency reports that it “treats each use of AFFF as a spill response to limit environmental effects.” Unfortunately, firefighter foam was used for decades at locations across the U.S. and because the chemicals in the foam don’t break down over time, they are still present in people’s bodies, in the environment and in drinking water sources. 

Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs

The Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado is one of the locations where testing of on-base and community water sources showed levels that were significantly higher than the EPA’s recommended limit for PFAS or PFOA exposure. In 2019, former Army specialist Mark Favors testified about the dangers of PAFS chemicals at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Reform Environment Subcommittee. “Colorado Health Department investigators found that lung, bladder and kidney cancer rates are significantly higher than expected in the same areas of the PFAS water contamination, yet the state has never offered contaminated residents medical monitoring or PFAS blood level tests,” said Favors, who testified on behalf of the Fountain Valley (Colorado) Clean Water Coalition. Favors’ extended family lives near the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and there are 16 cases of cancer in his family, including 10 deaths, five of which were from kidney cancer.