An independent study is being conducted on turnout gear after initial samples tested positive for fluorine.
According to a press release, University of Notre Dame Experimental Nuclear Physics Professor Graham Peaslee is testing new and used personal protective gear issued through the 2000s for the presence of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), which have been linked to various forms of cancer. Peaslee said the initial results from tested PPE fabric swatches were “phenomenal.”
“(The results were) off the scale in parts per million of fluorine in all but one of the samples,” he said. “Everything was just loaded with fluorine.”
Researchers are using particle-induced gamma-ray emission spectroscopy, a new, cost-effective and efficient method created by Peaslee to test for PFASs. He and his team will test to see how much fluorine, if any, is coming off the gear as firefighters use it.