Preventing PFAS Contamination

Firefighting Foams (AFFF or Aqueous Film-Forming Foam)

• Fire Departments and airports can implement risk management procedures to prevent uncontrolled releases of AFFF during maintenance, testing, and training.
• 100+ viable alternatives to AFFF exist today that are fluorine-free and meet international aviation standards like GreenFire® Firefighting Foam (GFFF), Universal Green®, and Eco-Gel® among others.
• Update state, federal, and military guidelines to support the use of PFAS-free firefighting foams at fire departments and airports.

Food Packaging

• PFAS-free packaging materials include: uncoated packaging and packaging made from polylactic acid (PLA) a compostable plastic typically made from corn, bamboo (Bambu®), or palm leaf (such as Leafware®).
• PFAS-free package coatings include: PLA (Ecotainer®, Eco-Products®, PrimeWare® and World Centric®), Clay (Bare® and Eco-Forward®), Bio-wax (Ecowax®, Paraflex NoWax).
• Two companies, Zume and Solenis, have open-sourced their recipe for PFAS-free, grease-resistant food containers to all food packaging manufacturers.

Metal-Plating Industries

• Use EPA-approved, non-fluorinated fume suppressants. The surface-finishing industry phased out PFOS in 2015 but some replacements contain other PFAS.
• There are five EPA-approved chrome-plating applications that are PFOS-free: Fumetrol 21 LF2, Dicolloy CRPF, HCA - 8.4, and Macuplex STR NPFX.

Textiles & Furniture

• PFAS-free waterproof fabrics have been developed for the textile and clothing industry. For example, the maker of GORE-TEX® has designed a PFAS-free waterproof membrane called ePE as a replacement for its ePTFE membrane.
• Manufacturers of stain resistant fabrics and furniture can replace applications such as Scotchguard® with non-fluorinated treatments that use acrylic, polyurethane or silicone-based coatings.