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Environmental Evaluations of Replacement of Fluorinated Aqueous Fire-Fighting Foams (AFFF)
Citation:
Barrett, William M. Environmental Evaluations of Replacement of Fluorinated Aqueous Fire-Fighting Foams (AFFF). American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, November 13 - 18, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
Presents the approaches that will be used to evaluate the safety of chemicals used as a replacement for fluorinated firefighting foams.
Description:
Existing aqueous fluorinated fire-fighting foams (AFFF) contain per- and poly-fluoro alkyl substances such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). While these fluorinated foams are highly effective at fighting flammable liquid (Class B) fires, the fluorinated compounds are an environmental concern due to their persistence. Due to concerns over the presence of fluorinated compounds, replacement for these foams is required ender the 2020 National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA). Multiple types of chemicals are being evaluated as replacement, but the firefighting performance of the current candidate replacement for these foams do not meet the performance of the fluorinated foams. Environmental testing of the candidate replacements is required to ensure that the environmental issues with the fluorinated compounds are avoided. This presentation will provide an overview of the currently proposed environmental testing to evaluate the environmental risks associated with the candidate replacement foams.