Island Firefighters Embark On Pioneering PFAS Study

The Nantucket firehouse was bustling with activity Monday morning, but not because of emergencies or fire calls. The headquarters of the Nantucket Fire Department became the site of a pioneering research study to determine the level of exposure firefighters have to the dangerous chemicals known as PFAS simply by wearing their turnout gear.

Island firefighters were joined by a crew from the Fall River Fire Department to take part in the study, which was spearheaded by the Nantucket PFAS Action Group and the two departments with funding from a grant provided by UMass Lowell.

With PFAS embedded in their turnout gear, concerns are high among firefighters regarding their exposure to the chemicals, and Nantucket’s firefighters have established themselves among the leading advocates in the country pushing to eliminate PFAS from turnout gear. Used to manufacture stain- and water-resistant products, the family of chemicals known as PFAS are suspected to increase the risk of kidney and testicular cancers, as well as other health conditions.

The lead investigator for the “Firefighter Turnout Gear PFAS Study,” is Dr. Courtney Carignan, an exposure scientist and environmental epidemiologist at Michigan State University. She was on the island Monday with a team collecting blood samples as well as skin wipes from the firefighters before and after they participated in a series of drills to simulate working conditions.

They were all wearing their turnout gear - the very equipment that is supposed to protect them - which has become a source of frustration and anxiety among firefighters nationwide due to the presence of PFAS chemicals used in the manufacturing of the special fabric.

“It took awhile to get the industry to admit the PFAS chemicals are there in the first place, and so we’re finally at a point where we know they’re there, there have been a couple studies that have confirmed it, so we know we have PFAS in our gear, we know there’s a lot of it in our gear, and we also know its coming off our gear,” Nantucket Fire Department deputy chief Sean Mitchell said. “The piece that’s missing is what is it doing to the firefighters? That’s what we’re starting to accomplish here today, is to answer that question.”

Some of the firefighters participating in the study wore their traditional turnout gear, while others wore their new “reduced PFAS” gear recently obtained by the Nantucket Fire Department that has an outer shell free of the so-called “forever chemicals.” Carignan hopes the study will also determine whether such modified turnout gear actually reduces the exposure to firefighters.

“We’re trying to understand how much PFAS comes off these different types of gear - the older gear and the new gear that the Nantucket firefighters were able to get,” Carignan said. “How much comes off the gear and onto the skin? And then we can estimate how much their exposure may be from the gear itself. Firefighters have special exposure pathways, the AFFF (firefighting foam), the fire itself and now potentially their gear. So we’re trying to understand that exposure pathway and quantify it so it can inform how much concern there is in this and are there solutions to reduce exposure and risk.”

Last September, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) rejected a proposal that could have paved the way for completely PFAS-free gear. The International Association of Fire Fighters - led by members of NFD and Fall River FD - had submitted an emergency petition to the NFPA to eliminate a specific safety standard test currently required for the certification of turnout gear. The standard mandates that the moisture barrier of turnout gear maintain water resistance after more than 40 hours of exposure to ultraviolet light. But only turnout gear manufactured with PFAS can meet this standard.

In its decision, the NFPA Standards Council members acknowledged the concerns regarding PFAS, “but express concern that removing this test without understanding how removal will affect the moisture barrier could inherently be a serious risk to firefighter safety given the barrier is a primary protection from water and other common liquids, including chemicals and bloodborne pathogens encountered.”

At the time, members of the Nantucket Fire Department blasted the decision by the NFPA Standards Council.

"They don't seem to have an appetite for saving firefighters from unnecessary deaths,” said Nate Barber, a Nantucket firefighter who blames his recent testicular cancer diagnosis on his exposure to PFAS "My one firefighter nut is bigger than all their pistachios.”

Both the blood and skin wipes collected Monday from the firefighters participating in the study - as well as samples and wipes of the turnout gear itself - will be sent to a research collaborator at Duke University who is an analytical chemist. The results may take six months or longer, Carignan said, but they will be important in helping to understand the level of exposure firefighters are subjected to, providing ongoing education to those in the fire service, and eventually reducing exposure.

“The slow movement in PFAS regulation compelled us to apply for a community grant that supported moving towards safer alternatives where they are available,” the Nantucket PFAS Action Group said in a statement about the study. “We felt that the high rates of cancer in the fire service highlighted the importance of reducing exposures whenever possible.”

Both Carignan and Mitchell emphasized that the study was an innovative approach.

“This is so new, we're on the frontlines here in Massachusetts,” Mitchell said.

“I’m not aware of any studies that have been published that have done this type of approach,” Carignan said. “It’s very unique.”

All photos by Kit Noble