Firefighters' Catch-22: Protective gear full of carcinogens

摘要

This story was updated Feb. 17 at 10:09 a.m. EST.First in a series. Click here for part two.Firefighters are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in the very clothing and gear that is meant to protect them,a paradox that stems from standards set under industry influence.Cancer is already a leading killer of firefighters, yet the standards for water-resistant uniforms, known as turnoutgear, call for them to contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — a highly toxic class of chemicalslinked to a wide variety of health problems even at very low doses.