AFFF firefighter foam exposure claims

Firefighters are at high risk of AFFF exposure - Qualifying diseases

International studies on firefighters confirmed an increased risk of testicular cancer, which can even be considered an occupational disease for firefighters. Besides accumulating in the blood, PFAS accumulate throughout life, especially in the liver and kidneys, increasing the risk of developing cancer.

Firefighters were never told about the health consequences of AFFF, and no one made much effort to stop it from escaping into the environment. The following are the diseases qualifying for filing a claim with the manufacturers of AFFF if you decide to file with ELG Law:

• Kidney cancer
• Testicular cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Liver cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Male breast cancer
• Thyroid cancer

Health organizations such as The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Cancer Society (ACS), and U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) have found that certain PFAS may affect the immune system and increase the risk of cancer.

The EPA has classified the chemicals in the foam products as "emerging contaminants", meaning that the health hazards and environmental risks associated with AFFF are significant. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified PFOA as a "possible carcinogenic to humans", based on evidence of bladder cancer from studies in factory workers exposed to PFOA.

Eligibility criteria for filing AFFF exposure claims

The U.S. military used AFFF during firefighter training and during emergencies. AFFF containing PFAS has also been used in various ways by the U.S. Navy, Army, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marine Corps since 1960.

Those most affected by exposure to AFFF are firefighters who worked in:

• Firefighting training areas
• Aircraft crash sites
• Military airport hangars

Firefighters directly confronted with type B fuel-based fires are at the highest risk:

• Airport firefighters
• Military firefighters
• Fuel industry firefighters
• Volunteer firefighters

One claim per firefighter

Compensations for firefighters are limited to one cancer condition. As a firefighter, if you have already submitted a claim for a certain condition or cancer, you can’t make another later or for another form of cancer that might have developed in the meantime. 

Only those who have served as firefighters, whether in a civilian, military, or volunteer capacity, for at least 2 years, and who were diagnosed with a qualifying condition during or after that service, are eligible. Those in roles such as chiefs, inspectors, mechanics, dispatchers, or medics who never actively fought fires do not qualify, unless they have previously spent at least two years engaged in active firefighting.

Different types of firefighting foams

The aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) are fluorinated substances that are mixed with water to produce an aqueous film that spreads across the surface of a hydrocarbon fuel (oils, gasoline, petroleum greases, tars, and solvents or alcohols) to extinguish the fire by forming a vapor barrier between the fuel and the oxygen in the atmosphere to prevent reignition. 

According to the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, there are three types of AFFF: 

• Legacy PFOS AFFF
• Legacy Fluorotelomer AFFF 
• Modern Fluorotelomer AFFF

Firefighters injured by PFAS exposure might qualify for compensation

By virtue of the recently introduced Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Act of 2024, firefighters who worked for at least two years in this occupational field and developed a health condition related to PFAS exposure, cancerous or non-cancerous, might be able to obtain financial compensation from the Secretary of Health and Human Services. They have up to two years after the regulations are finalized to submit their claim form.

Holding AFFF manufacturers responsible for harm caused by their products

When a product is designed and marketed as a safe one, the last thing it should do is harm you. But when a manufacturer misrepresents the safety of its products, this raises the question of whether the manufacturer tested the product appropriately or knowingly released it to the public with a defect.

Regarding AFFF foam products, it seems that chemical manufacturers deliberately ignored evidence of the harmful effects resulting from exposure to toxic chemicals on the health of military personnel, firefighters, private citizens, and the environment.

The underlying chemical, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), was developed in the 1950s. AFFF (Aqueous Film-Forming Foam) was commercially used beginning in the early 1970s.

The AFFF products were designed, marketed, manufactured, distributed, and sold by one or more of the following companies named as defendants in current legal processes:

• 3M Company
• Tyco Fire Products
• Buckeye Fire Equipment
• Chemguard
• Du Pont de Nemours
• The Chemours Company
• Chubb Fire
• Corteva
• National Foam
• Kidde Fire Fighting
• Enterra Corp.
• Williams Holdings
• Dynax Corporation
• UTC Fire & Security America’s Corp.

3M and the other chemical companies are currently facing a growing number of AFFF lawsuits over chemical-based firefighting foam sold for more than 50 years and used extensively at U.S. military bases, airports, and other industrial sites around the country.