For decades, some of America’s bravest, facing the battle against flames, were unknowingly exposed to carcinogenic chemicals and deadly conditions. In Nebraska, where volunteer and career firefighters are the backbone of so many small communities, the risk of cancer hits especially close to home. The chemicals designed to protect them — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — have silently contaminated their protective gear, their firehouses, and eventually their own bodies.

The Protecting Firefighters and Advancing State-of-the-Art Alternatives Act (PFAS Alternatives Act), reintroduced in May 2025, could finally change that. The bill proposes a $25 million annual budget to fund research into PFAS-free firefighting gear. It’s a long-overdue investment in protecting those who risk their lives daily to protect ours. For states like Nebraska, it could mean the difference between safety and tragedy.

Despite billion-dollar settlements with 3M and DuPont, some of the chemical giants that profited from PFAS manufacturing for decades, the battle to restore justice has just begun.

Firefighters Are Still On The Frontlines Of PFAS Exposure

PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or the human body. They persist in soil and groundwater, eventually entering the human body. The EPA’s drinking-water enforcement limits for PFOA and PFOS (the most carcinogenic substances in the PFAS chemical complex) are now set at 4 parts per trillion (ppt), highlighting that even small doses of these chemicals can be extremely hazardous to the human body.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) links PFA exposure to kidney, testicular, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, thyroid cancer, and childhood lymphoma. These are explicit scientific acknowledgements of the devastating health outcomes of PFAS exposure, not mere speculation.

Firefighters are particularly exposed to these chemicals through direct contact with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) during fuel-fire suppression and through PFAS-containing turnout gear. The protective firefighting gear is supposed to shield the firefighters from the elements. Yet repeated heat, abrasion, and sweat wear the PFAs-laden material down, accelerating the release and absorption of the chemicals, slowly poisoning the firefighters. A report from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) highlighted that 66% of firefighter deaths between 2002 and 2019 were caused by cancer linked to PFAS exposure.

Nebraska Is Still Struggling With PFAS Contamination

In 2017, Nebraska issued a Statewide Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) Inventory report that identified 990 facilities with potential for PFC environmental contamination in the state. The latest 2025 PFAS monitoring report for public water systems in the state revealed that 8 water systems are contaminated with PFOA and 19 with PFOS, both above the maximum contaminant level (MCL).

Nationwide, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently introduced a new NFPA 1970 standard for protective equipment that would exclude PFAS chemicals. In 2024, the organization also issued a one-year deadline for manufacturers to provide such turnout gear. Yet, after assessing the new PFAS-free equipment, researchers and manufacturers were skeptical of its protection efficiency. The new garments are not as effective in repelling the oil spills as the older PFAS-containing protective gear. As a consequence, NFPA stopped short of outright banning PFAS usage in firefighters’ turnout gear and limited it to 100 ppt.

The PFAS Alternatives Act Is Urgent And Imperative

The struggle to find PFAS-free alternatives for AFFF and turnout gear is of genuine concern, and that’s why passing the PFAS Alternatives Act is a critical priority. Its dedicated research funding would accelerate product development, rigorous testing, and field trials so that departments across Nebraska can afford reliable, PFAS-free gear without compromising firefighters’ safety.

The state has 478 departments with 17,218 firefighters, and they should never be faced with the choice between protecting the citizens of Nebraska and the risk of cancer.

Settlements and lawsuits confirm corporate responsibility, but they don’t solve the immediate problem of protecting firefighters today. Passing the PFAS Alternatives Act would accelerate the research efforts and fund safer protective equipment.

First responders urgently need safe, reliable tools to protect them from the occupational hazards they face in their daily operations. That includes both their exposure to the foreseeable hazards like fire and oil spills, but also to PFAS that increase their risk of cancer and threaten their lives in the long run. Nebraska and all other states should support this bill without delay as a lifeline for firefighters, not just as an innovation incentive.

Jonathan Sharp is the CFO of the Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., a law firm focused on providing support to people impacted by environmental and occupational toxic exposure. Jonathan develops and oversees the company’s financial strategy and assists in case evaluation.

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