Healey to sign legislation that will shield Massachusetts firefighters from cancer-causing chemicals

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 14, 2024…..Massachusetts is about to get a new law to shield firefighters from toxic chemicals contained in their protective equipment and eventually phase out the use of PFAS that’s been linked to cancer.

Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday that she plans to sign legislation shipped to her on Aug. 5, following momentum during the all-night session that started July 31.

The governor plans to sign the bill Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Grand Staircase. Healey will be joined by Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Security Susan Terrey, Auditor Diana DiZoglio and state lawmakers.

Richard MacKinnon Jr., president of Professional Fire Fighter of Massachusetts, said the bill has been a “long time coming.”

“For many years, this gear we’ve been wearing has been contaminated with harmful chemicals, forever chemicals,” MacKinnon said. “So the next generation of firefighters can kind of reset as far as what type of gear we are wearing, and it will be beneficial to them obviously. This is the strongest language in the nation right now.”

The bill (S 2902), which secured House approval in the early hours of Aug. 1, requires manufacturers to provide written notice to local governments, state agencies and other buyers if their firefighting protective equipment contains PFAS chemicals.

By 2027, manufacturers will be blocked from selling or distributing any equipment that contains “intentionally added PFAS.”

Only gear made with PFAS is currently considered up to fire code because of their thermal stability and water-resistant properties. But the use of the chemicals has long worried national and statewide firefighter organizations, which have warned that PFAS in gear has led to high rates of cancer diagnosis and cancer-related deaths.

PFFM legislative agent Paul Jacques said the new law will have a “lasting positive effect.”

“This is a great day for the PFFM membership and our fight against occupational cancer that continues to plague the fire service,” Jacques told the News Service Wednesday.

The Senate passed the standalone bill on July 29, after Sen. Michael Moore had unsuccessfully attempted to attach the firefighter gear protections onto a broader health care bill.

“PFAS exposure from firefighting equipment is a crisis for firefighters and the communities they serve,” Moore said in a statement last month. “I am so proud that the Senate is finally taking action to protect our heroic firefighters from the chemicals in their turnout gear that are slowly poisoning them, and I could not be more thrilled to have done it alongside my partners in the Legislature as well as the tireless advocates from across the Commonwealth who have persisted in this effort despite many setbacks.”

Moore, citing data from the International Association of Firefighters, said cancer accounted for 66 percent of firefighter deaths from 2002 to 2019.

DiZoglio, a former senator, had filed the firefighter gear bill when she served in the Legislature.

“Our firefighters are among the most hardworking, selfless people in Massachusetts, operating under the most dangerous of conditions while risking their own lives to save others,” DiZoglio said last month. “For their dedication to our communities, we must do all we can to provide them with the supports they need to do this invaluable work.”

Environmental advocacy groups have also supported the legislation.

“This ban is an enormously important first step in protecting Massachusetts Firefighters and their families from PFAS, but there is more to do to protect firefighters and the public,” Laura Spark, environmental health program director at Clean Water Action, said last week as advocates noted firefighters are also exposed to PFAS contained in firefighting foam.