Firies fume over toxic foam plans
Claims early detection of chemicals aids cancer battle
THERE are calls for the Tasmania Fire Service to test the blood of all career and volunteer firefighters for elevated levels of toxic PFAS chemicals.
But the TFS says such tests couldn’t determine if PFAS in the blood had made a person sick, or would make them so later in life.
The Police, Fire and Emergency Management Department has developed a draft update to its PFAS Management Plan, which is being reviewed by the department’s internal PFAS working group.
The final plan will then be approved by TFS and DPFEM management.
Use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been restricted in Australia and other countries due to concerns about potential human health impacts.
THERE are calls for the Tasmania Fire Service to test the blood of all career and volunteer firefighters for elevated levels of toxic PFAS chemicals.
But the TFS says such tests couldn’t determine if PFAS in the blood had made a person sick, or would make them so later in life.
The Police, Fire and Emergency Management Department has developed a draft update to its PFAS Management Plan, which is being reviewed by the department’s internal PFAS working group.
The final plan will then be approved by TFS and DPFEM management.
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals that have been widely manufactured and used in household and industrial products across the world. They resist stains, grease, water and heat, and so have historically been used in firefighting foams.
Use of the chemicals has been restricted in Australia and other countries due to concerns about potential human health impacts.
United Firefighters Union Tasmania branch industrial organiser Stephen McCallum said firefighters deserved to know how much PFAS they had absorbed in their blood.
“It is not enough to compensate firefighters with cancer,” he said. “We expect the (state) government to take reasonable precautions to monitor and reduce cancer risks at work. The early detection of cancer through monitoring of key risk factors has a huge impact on the success of cancer treatment.”
Mr McCallum said the initial PFAS Management Plan 2018-2020 had supported PFAS blood testing but the new draft plan didn’t. He said despite the early support for the idea, no tests had yet been undertaken.
“This potentially negligent inaction from TFS over the past three years has possibly cost people years of their life – we just don’t know which firefighters will be unlucky,” Mr McCallum said.
“There are ways to reduce PFAS blood contamination, but you need to know if your blood is contaminated first.
“It would cost around $200,000 to test the blood of every career and volunteer firefighter for PFAS. We believe that blood testing would be worth every cent.”
A TFS spokeswoman said the fire service’s position on blood testing “remains unchanged”.
“Testing for elevated levels of PFAS in a person’s blood and comparing these with levels seen in the general Australian population is not recommended by the Australian government’s PFAS Expert Health Panel,” she said. “The advice is that these tests have no diagnostic value as it is not possible to use the results to determine whether the level of PFAS in the blood will make a person sick now or later in life.”