The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, thanks to a $1 million grant from the CDC -- is trying to figure out just how much PFAS exposure firefighters are subjected to on the job. It’s why they launched PFAS in Firefighters of Michigan Surveillance Project April 28. Priyashi Manani is an environmental epidemiologist with the state health department. “We would be reaching out to several fire departments over the course of these next several years and collecting data in terms of a survey and a small sample of blood to analyze for PFAS,” Manani said. Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens from burning materials along with PFAS chemicals from flame-suppressing foams. PFAS are a group of manmade chemicals that are believed to cause cancer and other health hazards. They were used in manufacturing, firefighting foam and thousands of common household products.