Jordan Nathaniel Fenster
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
(TNS)
Jun. 27—Firefighters in Connecticut say in a newly filed federal lawsuit that the protective gear designed to keep them safe has been contaminated by cancer-causing chemicals.
The Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, along with local firefighters unions in Fairfield, Stratford, Hamden and Groton, say their protective gear contains the so-called “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
The class action lawsuit alleges that the defendants “derived substantial revenue” from the manufacture of protective equipment used by firefighters, equipment they say can cause them harm.
“When exposed to heat, PFAS can off-gas, break down, and degrade into highly mobile and toxic particles and dust, increasing the risk of PFAS exposure via dermal absorption, ingestion, and inhalation,” the lawsuit says. “PFAS exposure has been linked to multiple, serious adverse health effects in humans, including various cancers, tumors, liver damage, immune system and endocrine disorders, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, birth defects, decreased fertility, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.”
Ian Sloss, an attorney at the Stamford firm Silver Golub & Teitell, which is representing the firefighters, said he believes this is the first lawsuit filed concerning the potential harm of PFAS in firefighters’ protective equipment.
“None of the firefighters included in the class action have any condition they are specifically linking to PFAS,” Sloss said. “They’re just tired of feeling like they’re potentially getting sick or exposing themselves to toxins every time they’re putting on their gear and not having any legal action taken on their behalf.”
The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of four individual firefighters: Peter Brown, president of UPFFA and a member of the Norwalk Fire Department, Stamford firefighter Paul Anderson, Stratford firefighter and union leader Steve Michalovic, Norwich firefighter and union leader Dan Tompkins, and Nelson Hwang, listed in the lawsuit as a professional firefighter and union leader.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in New Haven, names as defendants 20 manufacturers of protective equipment, including 3M and DuPont.
“As the science and technology of PFAS, societal and regulatory expectations, and our expectations of ourselves have evolved, so has how we manage PFAS,” a 3M spokesperson said by email. “3M will address PFAS litigation by defending itself in court or through negotiated resolutions, all as appropriate.”
DuPont did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been in commercial use for decades. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified two of the most common, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as “carcinogenic to humans” and “possibly carcinogenic to humans” based on laboratory tests on animals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote recently that there is “no level of exposure to these two PFAS without risk of health impacts.”
The firefighters’ lawsuit cites a 2020 study published by researchers at the University of Notre Dame that showed protective equipment, called “turnout gear,” contained high levels of PFAS.
“If they touch the gear, it gets on their hands, and if they go fight a fire and they put the gear on and take it off and then go eat and don’t wash hands, it could transfer hand to mouth,” study author Graham Peaslee said in a university release. “And if you’re sweating and you have sweat pores, could some of these chemicals come off on the thermal layer and get into the skin? The answer is probably.”
The EPA has set the allowable limits of PFAS in drinking water at four parts per trillion. According to the lawsuit, firefighter turnout gear can contain between 182,000 parts per trillion and 78,000 parts per trillion.
According to the International Association of Firefighters, cancer is the leading cause of line-of-duty death in the fire service.
The lawsuit alleges that as a result of their exposure to PFAS, the defendants have “experienced subclinical cellular changes in their bodies which put them at increased risk of developing adverse health conditions, including but not limited to various cancers.”
Sloss said a primary goal of the lawsuit is increased funding for a “robust medical monitoring program that can account for all the danger they’ve been put in by exposure to PFAS on a nearly daily basis.”
“They are obviously worried about their long term prognosis,” he said.
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