Department of Defense

PFAS: New Developments, Old Problems

Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a new specification for fluorine-free foam (“F3”) that would replace the PFAS-containing AFFF (Aqueous Film-Forming Foam), still widely used by the U.S. military and airport firefighting crews.  This is an important step in reducing or ending the use of AFFF, which continues to be used in select applications because it has no adequate replacement.  The new specification limits PFAS content in the F3 foam to 1 part per billion.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been working with the U.S. Navy to develop the new specification, and has advised that it will permit usage of F3 at facilities under its oversight once qualified products have been introduced.