Latest news with #firefightingfoams
Zawya
2 days ago
- General
- Zawya
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) launch $82.5 Million project to eliminate harmful firefighting foams in African airports
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have jointly launched the Fortifying Infrastructure for Responsible Extinguishment (FIRE) project, which aims to phase out the use of toxic fluorinated firefighting foams and replace them with safer alternatives at major airports in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. FIRE – a $82.5 million initiative with a $10 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and $72.5 million in co-financing from partners – will phase out firefighting foams containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), hazardous 'forever chemicals' linked to serious environmental and health risks. 'The FIRE project shows how sector-focused action can drive the elimination of hazardous chemicals across value chains,' said Anil Sookdeo, Senior Chemicals Specialist, Global Environment Facility (GEF). 'The GEF is proud to support this effort, which we hope will inspire both participating countries and the wider aviation sector to transition to PFAS-free firefighting foams.' 'FIRE is an important initiative that empowers countries to eliminate one of the most harmful groups of pollutants found in firefighting foam supply chains,' said Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of UNEP's Industry and Economy Division. 'It supports a practical transition to safer, accessible, and affordable alternatives, showing that environmental and health protection can go hand in hand with business and operational viability.' A safe and sustainable transition in airports and beyond Together with participating airports, FIRE will support the transition from highly toxic firefighting foams to fluorine-free foams while maintaining safety and operational integrity. These efforts are expected to promote safe removal of 4,500 tonnes of PFAS-contaminated material from fire trucks and safe disposal of 130 tonnes of PFAS-based foam concentrate. "This project marks a significant step forward in Kenya's commitment to protecting public health and the environment,' said Dr Mohamud Gedi, CEO and Managing Director of Kenya's Airport Authority. 'By phasing out harmful PFAS chemicals from firefighting foams, we are safeguarding our communities and contributing to a cleaner, safer future for all." 'The International Civil Aviation Organization is committed to supporting the adoption of safer and more sustainable firefighting practices at airports worldwide,' said Juan Carlos Salazar, ICAO Secretary General at ICAO. 'The facilitation of access to safe alternatives to PFAS foams will be a very significant step for the recipient countries.' Turning Global Commitments into Action 'PFAS is an invisible pollution time bomb that demands urgent, globally coordinated action before it is too late,' said Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. 'The inclusion of several major PFAS under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants marks a critical step in international efforts to reduce exposure and environmental contamination. Initiatives like FIRE, which aim to eliminate PFAS from high-risk open applications such as firefighting foams, demonstrate how the Convention fosters multilateral cooperation, drives innovation, and transforms practices—ultimately contributing to a cleaner environment and a healthier planet and people." The FIRE Project is implemented by UNEP, executed by ICAO, and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This project is part of a broader set of UNEP-GEF activities dedicated to global monitoring and eliminating the use of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and reducing the impacts of POPs on human health and the environment. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
SBS Australia
14-06-2025
- Health
- SBS Australia
Australia's 'forever chemical' blind spots — and what could reduce your levels
Earlier this year, it was revealed that 3M knew firefighting foams containing PFAS substances were toxic. It has produced fire fighting foams since the 1960s and started phasing out the substances in the early 2000s. Source: AAP / Craig Abraham, Fairfax pool Many Australians have some level of PFAS — often dubbed forever chemicals — in their body, but understanding their impacts and strategies for reducing them is lacking. This week, scientists and experts continued to give evidence to a federal inquiry investigating the regulation and management of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Their remarks highlighted a series of knowledge gaps that make it difficult to ascertain the health impacts of these chemicals, which are present in our environment and bodies. It also served as a reminder about one of the only known ways to reduce our levels. PFAS are synthetic compounds found in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including makeup, non-stick cooking surfaces and food packaging, due to their heat, stain, grease and water-resistant properties. They often don't degrade in the environment and build up in our bodies, earning them the title "forever chemicals". Professor Peter Sly, deputy director of the Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, said control groups with no level of PFAS simply "don't exist anymore". "I'm afraid every person in Australia has PFAS levels in their body. It's a matter of how high they are," he told the PFAS committee hearing on Tuesday. Last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data that tested for 11 different PFAS levels in the general population. It detected three types of PFAS in the blood of over 85 per cent of the population. While research groups currently test for over 40 different types of PFAS, the ABS estimates there are more than 15,000 identified compounds belonging to the PFAS class of chemicals. In 2022, a world-first Australian study investigated whether blood and plasma donations could remediate elevated PFAS levels in 285 firefighters. Historically, firefighters have been exposed to higher levels of PFAS through the frequent use of firefighting foams, although alternatives have since been developed that do not include these chemicals. Following 12 months of testing staff, the study found that those who donated blood every 12 weeks had a 10 per cent reduction in PFAS chemicals. The group that donated plasma every six weeks had their PFAS levels reduced by 30 per cent, with no significant change for the control group who did neither. Miri Forbes, one of the study authors and an associate professor at Sydney's Macquarie University, said understanding the impact of the reduced levels on the human body requires further study. "We don't know yet. This is the first study that has found how we can reduce PFAS," she told SBS News. "It was really exciting to know that it's possible to be able to reduce the levels of PFAS we can measure in the blood, but we need to understand, what are the health implications of that?" Other observational studies have found women have reduced levels. PFAS leave the body during menstruation and the replenished blood supply doesn't have PFAS, lowering the overall levels. Martyn Kirk, a professor of epidemiology at the Australian National University, told SBS News that there is still plenty we don't know about PFAS. These blind spots include; The long-term health impacts of low exposure The health impacts on highly exposed individuals Where exposure comes from in the household environment Methods of reducing PFAS While there have been studies that have linked higher levels of PFAS with health impacts, such as higher levels of cholesterol, many don't yield consistent results, making conclusions difficult. Kirk said longitudinal studies, which can be reproduced and repeated, are needed to capture exposure levels across different areas and ages as well as demonstrate where levels decline over time. He believes highly exposed people, such as firefighters, present an opportunity to understand the link to different health outcomes. "You've got a much greater chance of being able to identify the potential relationship between exposure and disease, whereas in the community, the levels are often very low," he said. A barrier to obtaining datasets for scientific research is the cost of samples, which are complex to interpret and expensive as a result. Sly suggested a biomonitoring program by collecting leftover blood from hospitals and pooling samples. "By pooling samples, you protect individuals' identity, and secondly, you only have to measure one sample rather than ten or 100," he told the PFAS committee on Tuesday. "And you can get levels across the population," he said, adding that a similar method was currently used to test wastewater for drugs. Companies started phasing out PFAS in the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to a drop in exposure and blood levels as a result, said Kirk. "We've seen declines in the levels of PFAS in people's blood since 2000," he said. "So we've had nearly a 10-fold decrease in the levels of PFAS in the blood of Australians, and that continues to decrease." He said that unless you're working in one of the industries that are highly exposed, you probably don't have levels that are of concern. However, he noted anxiety in specific communities like at Wreck Bay on the NSW south coast, where an Aboriginal community believe a "cancer cluster" is due to PFAS contamination caused by the Department of Defence. "I think we do need to understand better to assist those communities and also provide better information for the wider community and government to make good policy."
