Firefighting Foam Linked To Increase In Toxic PFAS Exposure

Lawsuits are moving forward against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals – toxic compounds that can now be found in the bodies of about 98% of human beings, including those who have never even lived in contaminated areas. These newest lawsuits revolve around the use of these PFAS compounds in fire fighting foam used on military bases where we are seeing a sharp increase in diseases linked to exposure. Filling in for Mike Papantonio this week, Farron Cousins is joined by attorney Wes Bowden to explain what’s happening.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Lawsuits are moving forward against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals, toxic compounds that can now be found in the bodies of about 98% of human beings, including those who have never even lived in contaminated areas. These newest lawsuits revolve around the use of these PFAS compounds in firefighting foam used on military bases where we're seeing a sharp increase in diseases linked to exposure. Joining me to explain what's happening is attorney Wes Bowden. So, Wes, let's start with this issue. Obviously, Mike Papantonio and I many, many times have talked about these PFAS chemicals here on America's Lawyer. But we haven't covered this specific area before. So we're talking about firefighting foam that is typically used, you know, I don't wanna say in excess, but it's frequently used on military basis. Tell us about the applications of the firefighting foam.

Yeah, so what we're seeing is that, you know, PFAS you guys have done a lot of shows on that as well. They're very persistent, they're bioaccumulative, and they're toxic. So a lot of times when these chemicals are used, if they get into the environment, they just stay there. And one of the products that has led to probably the largest increase of contamination is the use of firefighting foams, AFFF, class B foams. And what these are, are, you know, the foam that comes out the firetruck, the foam that they use at airports to extinguish fuel fires, that's what they are. And so, for decades, these were used unknowingly by the fire departments, by our local towns, by our counties, by our first responders of brave men and women who we rely upon to protect ourselves, protect our community. They didn't know that there was PFAS chemicals in there, and for decades they were used and resulted in this environmental contamination.

So we're talking about these chemicals being used because obviously they're very efficient, you know, they go over the fire, they blanket it, smother it, prevent oxygen. So yeah, it works wonders, especially when you're dealing with fuel fires from airplanes or vehicles, whatever it is, fast efficient, gets the job done. So for years and years and years, the manufacturers understood, they knew what's going into this product. We know what we've got in here, but there's no reason that everybody else needs to be concerned with this, which is, you know, typical. I mean, you've handled enough lawsuits, I've done enough segments on this. It always goes back to what the manufacturer knew and what they told the people using the products. Right?

Yeah, that's exactly right. I think you mentioned it earlier, just now, most of these foams were used for training purposes. You know, you train, most of it 90, 95% of this product thats was used, historically was for training purposes. And you're exactly right. What the companies failed to tell the end users, the firefighters themselves, was that this product needs to be contained. No matter when you use it, you collect it, you contain it, and you destroy it. Because they failed to tell people that, we're now faced with nationwide contamination, really global contamination. So that's a key element of one of the cases that's going to trial here in about two weeks. And we believe that we're gonna be able to prove to a jury what these companies knew. And there's no question that the companies knew that these compounds were persistent. They were bioaccumulative and they were toxic as far back as the 1970s.