PFAS protection for firefighters bill advances

Legislation introduced by a pair of lawmakers designed to examine and address health concerns regarding firefighters’ occupational exposure to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has advanced in the Senate.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) said the Guaranteeing Equipment Safety for Firefighters Act unanimously passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The bill would authorize a comprehensive study of the personal protective equipment worn by firefighters to determine the identity and concentration of PFAS, as well as firefighters’ risk of exposure to the chemicals from the gear while also establishing a federal grant program to advance the development of safe alternatives to PFAS chemicals in personal protective equipment.

“Firefighters face daunting, and too often, life-threatening challenges on the job every day,” Shaheen said. “The safety and condition of their own protective gear should never be one of them. I’m very pleased by the bipartisan support for this bill, and as a whole, the bipartisan effort to prioritize a federal response to PFAS contamination in our communities. This is an issue impacting Granite Staters, Coloradans and Americans across the country, and it deserves the immediate and full attention of Congress.”

Gardner said firefighters and emergency responders in Colorado and around the country risk everything to protect communities, and it is legislators’ duty to ensure accurate research to understand and mitigate any dangerous PFAS exposure during emergency response and training activities.

“I’m proud the Committee approved my bipartisan legislation with Senator Shaheen, which will authorize a study through the National Institute of Standards and Technology to examine the concentration of PFAS in firefighters’ protective gear and take steps to reduce or eliminate the possibility of any dangerous PFAS exposure,” he said.