Highlights of 2024 PFAS Survey of Maine Fire Departments

To learn more about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in and from firefighting, Maine Morning Star and the nonprofit Pulitzer Center collaborated with researchers at the Rutgers School of Health on a survey of Maine fire departments. The lead researcher, epidemiologist Judith Graber, conducts ongoing research on volunteer firefighters through a Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study, part of the national Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study.

The survey, conducted in cooperation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Maine Fire Chiefs Association, the Maine State Federation of Firefighters and the Professional Fire Fighters of Maine, was sent out in July 2024 to 378 fire departments, with follow-up reminders. The results shared in this series reflect the 77 surveys received. (That 20% response rate is identical to a state survey specific to AFFF distributed in 2019.)

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Given the relatively low response rate, the data shared in this series do not reflect the breadth of Maine’s fire service (estimated by the Maine State Federation of Fire Fighters at around 7,200 firefighters statewide). For example, the survey has a higher proportion of departments mostly or entirely staffed by career firefighters than estimated in a federal fire department registry (see percentages below).

The following charts and statistics summarize key findings from this survey.

Firefighter turnout gear has PFAS in all three layers and a federal study demonstrated that higher PFAS levels are shed the more worn and abraded the gear is. Most Maine departments have gear in relatively good condition.

Recognizing the health threats from PFAS and other chemicals released during fires, firefighters are adopting new practices to clean themselves shortly after exposure.

The vast majority of departments have adopted a “standard operating procedure for decontamination” at fire incidents, hosing off gear on site and using skin wipes.

Firefighters are instructed to “shower within the hour” following incidents and wash gear after every live fire, in terms of cancer prevention, but 15% of respond- ing departments lack a gear washer/extractor and 18% have no shower facilities.

• Fewer than 7% of the responding departments reported that members had received PFAS blood testing.
• 42% of the responding departments (a mix of career- and volunteer-staffed) reported that they provide firefighters routine physical exams. Just 14% of departments provide their firefighters with PFAS information to share with their health care providers.
• One in seven departments reported that they discuss chemical exposure to firefighters at most membership meetings. Three-quarters indicated that the topic is discussed “occasionally” (once a year or less) or “sometimes” (once every couple months).

Maine placed restrictions on AFFF use that took effect January 1, 2022, banning its use in training and its sale and distribution. Prior to that date, it was widely used in municipal, airport and military firefighting.

• 28% of departments still have AFFF stocks stored on site
• Fewer than 7% of departments report using AFFF since restrictions took effect in January 2022.
• 15 departments reported receiving surplus military foam (high in PFAS), but several departments reported that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection had already gathered back some of that and only 4 departments reported still having “mil-spec” foam on site.
• 13% of the departments have begun acquiring fluorine-free foams.

Water use

• More than half of departments rely on a municipal water supply while roughly one in eight rely primarily on a well for drinking water.
• About half of departments use some bottled water as well, and nearly two-thirds of those did not know if the bottling company had tested for PFAS or filtered water to remove PFAS.
• One-quarter of fire departments use some system for water filtration (not necessarily designed to remove PFAS).
• 87% of fire departments draw water for pump trucks from local surface waters. Among those departments, a third pull from a farm pond, 7% from a transfer station, and 6% from a fire training area – all settings that could contain elevated levels of PFAS.