Firefighters are refusing to use a particular firefighting foam they say has been "linked to cancer" and is being kept in storage for emegencies by the Tasmania Fire Service.
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The TFS is the only fire service in Australia that hasn't banned the use of firefighting foam containing per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals - commonly known as PFAS.
PFAS chemicals are close to being indesctructible once they're in the environment, resisting water and heat.
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High levels of PFAS were detected at the Victorian Country Fire Authority's former training college at Fiskville, sparking a parliamentary inquiry in 2014. The CFA announced its decision to close the college a year later because it couldn't guarantee the safety of the site.
In Tasmania, PFAS has been detected in the environment at Launceston Airport, Hobart Airport and the Tasmania Fire Service's training facility at Cambridge.
United Firefighters Union Tasmania branch industrial organiser Stephen McCallum said firefighters were disturbed by the fact that the firefighting foam Tridol, which contains PFAS chemicals and is used to combat fuel fires, was still being kept at Cambridge.
"[PFAS has] been removed from service by every other fire service in Australia," he said. "Fire services around the world are looking to follow suit."
"It's really disappointing that the TFS is the last holdout. And they appear to be refusing to take any action or recognise that it's potentially harmful. Tridol [has] ... been linked to cancer, it's an environmental pollutant and [the TFS] need to take action to fix this now."
TFS deputy chief officer Jeff Harper said PFOS and PFOA, the two most well-known PFAS chemicals, were no longer used by the TFS.
"Tridol is a product used specifically for fighting fuel fires, which are extremely rare," he said. "Tridol contains chemicals that are part of the PFAS group but does not contain PFOS or PFOA."
"Some Tridol is stored at Cambridge for emergencies and if the nature of a fuel fire requires its use then it may be used.
It's really disappointing that the TFS is the last holdout. And they appear to be refusing to take any action or recognise that it's potentially harmful.
- Stephen McCallum, United Firefighters Union
"TFS are developing plans to transition out of all foams that contain PFAS."
The Australian government's PFAS taskforce is of the view that there's currently "limited to no evidence" of human disease or other significant clinical harm resulting from PFAS exposure.
But the United States Environmental Protection Authority has observed that consistent findings from human epidemiological studies show increased cholesterol levels in exposed populations, while less extensive findings have related to infant birth weights, effects on the immune system, cancer (for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA) and thyroid hormone disruption (for PFOS).
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