The National Fire Protection Association imposed a testing standard that required the use of PFAS in firefighter protective gear despite the chemicals’ health risks, the International Association of Fire Fighters alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts state court.
The NFPA, which promulgates standards to reduce fire-related deaths, necessitated the use of toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in the middle moisture barrier layer of firefighter’s bunker gear, according to the complaint filed in Massachusetts Superior Court in Norfolk. The NFPA could have chosen different standards that would have allowed other materials to be used, but still protect firefighters, the ...