Firefighters have ramped up their calls for the Tasmania Fire Service to stop the use of toxic firefighting foam, which they say has a raft of adverse health impacts.
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But Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Shelton said he had been advised by TFS chief officer Chris Arnol that the "PFAS foam product" was no longer in use.
The United Firefighters Union, however, said Tasmania was the only state in the country that still used foams containing heat-resistant per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as PFOA and PFOS.
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There's evidence to suggest that exposure to the latter two chemicals can cause negative health outcomes in humans.
UFU Tasmania branch secretary Leigh Hills said the state's use of PFAS was "completely out of step with the rest of the country".
"This state election professional firefighters will be out in force demanding the chemical is no longer in use," he said.
Mr Hills said the union wanted to see a comprehensive testing regime put in place to detect PFAS in Tasmanian firefighters.
UFU Victoria branch vice-president Mick Tisbury appeared before the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2019, where he called for a worldwide ban on PFAS in firefighting foam. He said PFAS chemicals were "really nasty" and didn't "just wash away".
"It sticks around waterways, soil and in the bodies of those who are exposed," he said.
A TFS spokesperson said the TFS had actively been reducing the impact of PFAS in its workplace, conducting multiple audits of foam quantities containing PFOS and PFOA.
"Over the last two years Tas Fire Equipment has been removing foams containing PFAS from client sites, and 3000 litres of foam have also been disposed of in accordance with EPA requirements," the spokesperson said.
"While B-class foam is still required in operational response in rare circumtances, an alternative B-class foam product is being used which does not contain PFOS or PFOA. "
The spokesperson said blood tests could measure the levels of PFAS in a person's blood and compare it with levels seen in the general population but that experts had advised the TFS that such tests had "no diagnostic value".
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Rob Inglis
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
