IAFF General President Ed Kelly’s Keynote Address at ‘EWG Inaugural PFAS Conference’ ~ July 14, 2021
Ed Kelly — Keynote Speaker at EWG Inaugural PFAS Conference of July 14, 2021
Introduction by Scott Faber, VP Government Affairs — EWG
EK: Scott, thank you so much for having me, it’s truly an honor to be speaking at the inaugural Environmental Working Group PFAS Conference — specifically on such an important topic which impacts the health of our firefighters and quite frankly all of our families.
PFAS chemicals touch every corner of our work environment — from our personal protective equipment — to the A-triple-F — aqueous film forming foam - firefighting foam - that we’ve been exposed to for years — mostly in aircraft firefighting — particularly in the military. And, the exposure we get to consumer products that burn during the regular course of our workday. Every day we’re learning more and more about this toxic class of forever chemicals. And the research and data is clear — these chemicals have to be removed from the firefighter’s environment. Occupational cancer has become the number one killer of firefighters. Our cancer rates are rising every single year.
Every September, out in Colorado Springs, we memorialize our fallen, at our Fallen Firefighters Memorial. This year, just under seventy percent of the names we will add to our memorial, will be due to deaths from occupational cancer. To do nothing about this is unacceptable. For me, the mission of our union — the mission of the IFF starts in front of a church — and it’s our duty as the leadership of the IFF to do everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our members — the firefighters and emergency medical professionals who put their lives on the line every single day. They deserve nothing less from us.
Too many of our brothers and sisters are dying of cancer — we’ve buried too many firefighters. For us, coming on what we call, ‘the job’ — it’s understood that our work is dangerous — it’s understood that you might get killed doing it — and for the past three or four decades, coming on this job, you learn that if you’re lucky enough not to get killed — you’ll probably get cancer. It’s a difficult rationalization.
Every one of us — every firefighter — has lost friends to cancer. Every one of us has friends that are fighting cancer right now. My good friend, Boston firefighter Billy Carey — whose 48-years old — he’s got three children — ages 14, 13, 11 — he’s in a tough fight. Just this week he had brain surgery to remove one of the three tumors. He has lung cancer that spread to his adrenal glands. He’s in a tough fight — but he’s a tough guy — tough Rescue 2 guy — he’s gonna do just fine.
But our message — to all of our managers — and all the manufacturers — and quite frankly the whole world, is that our health and safety is non-negotiable. We die for strangers — we’re gonna fight for each other.
I pledge to you today — that we will do all we to root these toxic chemicals out of our environment. The work has begun already. We’ve pushed to eliminate fluorinated foam at the Department of Defense and at airports — and more and more states every day pass important legislation to remove fluorinated chemicals from our environment. Our legislative department here at the IFF has been focused on working with US, Canadian, local, state, and provincial leadership to pass legislation banning the use of fluorinated chemicals from AFFF firefighting foam.
Science has shown that PFAS chemicals in any form can break down and expose our members.
We’re also focused on removing PFAS in our personal protective equipment — what we call our ‘bunker gear’ or our ‘turnout gear’. The data is becoming clearer — the gear that is supposed to be protecting us is poisoning us — it defies logic!
Our members — 324,000 strong — across the United States and Canada voted unanimously at our 55th IFF convention in 2021 to actively oppose the use of PFAS in our gear — and suspend advertising and sponsorship agreements from manufacturers that use these toxic chemicals.
I’d be remiss, if I didn’t publicly thank Diane Cotter — the wife of a firefighter who survived cancer — who relentlessly championed to right this wrong.
Thank-you Diane.
The IFF has also undertaken independent testing of our gear to better understand the scope of the problem. Our independent studies have identified PFAS in all layers of our personal protective ensemble. Also in dust samples collected in fire stations in both the US and Canada — but more importantly, in the blood of firefighters.
By identifying the presence of PFAS in our bunker gear — this confirms our suspicion — that the chemicals are present — and that they’re migrating from our personal protective equipment into our bodies.
We’re working with the federal government to prioritize PFAS free products.
The IFF will use all legislative and regulatory means to attack this class of chemicals — to protect our members and the public.
We’re also focused on effecting change through the NFPA — the National Fire Protection Administration — which provides codes and standards for all aspects of the fire service. At the NFPA we’re pushing for changes that will allow manufacturers to remove PFAS from our personal protective equipment.
Currently, we’ve filed a ‘Temporary Interim Amendment’ — TIA — to eliminate what is called a ‘uv test’, which drove the need for the introduction of PFAS into our PPE- into our bunker gear.
We’re also working to remove the inventory of AFFF foam from throughout circulation. These changes would be a step in the right direction toward minimizing what’s been proven to be needless exposures to these chemicals.
We also must be cognizant that those selling chemicals will endeavor to provide alternatives. The IFF will not endorse any alternative products until they’ve been vetted thoroughly and tested to ensure they’re safe for our members.
At the IFF we’ve created a new department focused on science and research. This department will allow the IFF to be proactive on our health and safety issues rather than reactive to them. Our science and research department is led by scientists — and highly qualified staff who are experienced in the fire service as well as analyzing occupational exposures. We must do more to stop these exposures and remove these chemicals from our environment.
On behalf of all 324,000 IFF members, we’d like to thank our coalition partners for all your passion — to support your firefighters — us — and our families and those we serve.
Know that the IFF will stand strong with you — to improve the health of our members and protect the public from these harmful chemicals.
Scott, thank you so much for letting me be a part of this very important topic — and we’re happy to be working alongside you to effect the changes that need to take place.
Firefighters and PFAS
Join firefighters to learn more about the impacts of PFAS on firefighter health. Hosted by EWG Legislative Agent Melanie Benesh:
Testimonies of Sean Mitchell, Bryan Goodman, and Kevin Ferrara :
