In an effort to reduce cancers, Kamloops Fire and Rescue is in the market to buy new turnout gear for the entire department – just as soon as it’s available.
Firefighter cancers from exposure to burning toxic chemicals have become a major concern for departments around the world in the last two decades – but now a new cause of firefighter cancers has been identified – the very gear they wear to protect themselves.
It contains a number of different textiles and materials that contain or are coated in PFAS – or per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances – a class of chemicals known as a “forever chemical.” A well-established and growing number of studies have identified PFAS as a carcinogen.
Canada is currently 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. That move is supported by the International Association of Firefighters.
“What happens though is especially with firefighting, is you run into the fire and these heat up and as they heat up that’s where a lot of the problems come from and the off-gassing produces has been shown to produce some known carcinogens,” Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc, told Radio NL.
“Then of course that is absorbed into the body and then you get the development of certain cancers.”
Uzeloc says KFR currently requires firefighters to only wear their turnout gear when going to a confirmed fire. When they’re done, firefighters remove their gear and bag it for decontamination before returning to the firehall.
He also says Kamloops firefighters have two sets of turnout gear for when one is in decontamination.
“Where that used to just be with known hazardous materials now its a standard practice and built into some of the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) guidelines of decontaminating even when you come out of a fire, you rinse that down to suppress vapours, you strip out of your duty gear and bag it and tag it and when you get back to the fire station it is sent in for cleaning,” Uzeloc said.
Some firefighters have told NL some members are wearing coveralls underneath their turnout gear, though Uzeloc notes that can present a problem of it’s own – heat stress.
Speaking on NL Newsday, Uzeloc says fire departments everywhere have been working to eliminate PFAS from a number of areas of the job – including firefighting foams.
“What we’re seeing now is that moisture barrier in some of these still requires the use of PFAS – so what’s happened is now you have a lot of research being done,” Uzeloc said. “There’s been some lawsuits filed in the United States between the International Association of Firefighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs against some of these manufacturers to prompt them to do quicker research to get better duty gear done that is PFAS free.”
Currently – only two North American cities have committed public money to buy new gear – Concord, New Hampshire and Vancouver. The City of Vancouver is adding $2.8-million on top of some existing funds for a total investment of $3.7-million dollars to replace gear containing PFAS.
A report to Vancouver city council says the unnamed manufacturer has committed to filling the order in the next eight months.
While turnout gear is typically replaced every five to ten years, it is not clear how much the new PFAS-free gear would cost Kamloops Fire and Rescue. The department will be in the market for at least 288 sets of gear – two seats each for the 124 career firefighters and the 20 paid on-call firefighters.
Uzeloc says each set of turnout gear typically runs between $5,000 and $10,000.
Currently only one manufacturer, Globe Manufacturing Company, claims to have a PFAS-free option that has passed all testing and certification by the NFPA.
Vancouver has not said where they are sourcing their new gear – though some reports suggest it has passed NFPA certification.