Firefighting is a dangerous job, yet more than 142,017 firefighters are currently employed in the US. Firefighters put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect their communities. We should be grateful for what they do, but there is no doubt that firefighter jobs can come with serious health risks. The chemicals used to fight fires are toxic and can cause severe damage to the human body when ingested or inhaled.
Firefighters are twice as likely than civilians to develop certain types of cancer due to exposure to these chemicals during training exercises and actual fire scenes. Suppose you’ve been diagnosed with cancer due to exposure to toxic chemicals while fighting fires or working at a manufacturing plant that produces firefighting foam products. In that case, you may qualify for compensation like thousands of others have.
Exposure Can Cause Serious Health Problems
Firefighting foam is a mixture of chemicals used to douse fires. The foam is sprayed onto the fire and then sinks into the ground, creating an oily film on top of the soil that can cause health problems if it enters drinking water or contaminates food crops.
Some of the chemicals found in firefighter foams have been linked to cancer and reproductive disorders like miscarriages and congenital disabilities. Exposure has also been linked to chronic kidney disease (CKD), liver damage, and neurological problems such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Manufacturers Knowingly Used Toxic Chemicals in Their Products
You may not be aware, but firefighting foam manufacturers have known the dangers associated with their products for years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued warnings since at least the 1980s about how these chemicals can harm wildlife and humans.
But manufacturers chose to keep quiet instead of alerting consumers to this information and making their own decisions about whether or not they want to purchase a product containing these chemicals. They knew that if people knew what they were buying, they would choose a different brand or product altogether.
Firefighting Foam Has Contaminated Water Resources
According to WHO, by 2025, 50% of the world’s population will not have proper access to drinking water. And firefighting foams have contaminated water resources in large areas of the country.
The contamination results from improper storage and disposal procedures used by the military and firefighting agencies. Firefighting foam was used initially to douse oil fires, but it’s been found that these chemicals can cause severe health problems for humans and animals alike.
In the field, firefighters spray the foam on top of an existing fire to remove any remaining flames or smoldering embers from previous fires. The chemicals in this foam will evaporate quickly into the air once they’re sprayed, but they leave behind other chemicals that have dangerous effects on human health if ingested over time. These chemicals can also contaminate nearby waterways when they seep into them after rains wash away soil where this substance has been stored or disposed of offsite without proper precautions (e.g., lining landfills).
Once contaminated waterways are affected by these dangerous substances floating around their surfaces due to runoff from nearby farms or residential areas, people might not even know how harmful this could be until after some time passes (and possibly even longer). Drinking water containing high levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) may cause cancerous growth within your body over time because it accumulates there instead.
Companies Dumped Toxic Chemicals Into Our Environment
The companies that dumped the toxic chemicals into our environment knew what they were doing. They knew that their products were dangerous, but they didn’t care. They made those products anyway and laid them down on our land, water supply, school grounds, and even playgrounds where children play.
Some of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. Others have been linked to infertility and congenital disabilities. These companies need to be held accountable for their actions. It’s not right that we take all this risk without compensation or even acknowledgment from those who created it in the first place.
Manufacturers Have an Obligation to Protect the Public
The manufacturers must ensure that their products are safe for the public. While it’s true that some types of products may be inherently dangerous, they still must take steps to ensure they’re not being used in a way that endangers people or causes injuries.
The manufacturers knew about the dangers of the chemicals in their products, but they did not warn the public. It’s been shown that flame retardants can cause cancer and other health problems, yet these companies continue to make and sell these chemicals without warning anyone about their dangers.
You May Qualify to Receive Financial Compensation
If you have been diagnosed with cancer or other serious health problems, it is possible that you could be eligible to receive financial compensation by filing a Firefighting Foam Lawsuit. If you were exposed to the chemicals in question while serving as a firefighter or police officer, this also means that your loved ones can file a lawsuit on your behalf.
Suppose you are a resident of a community where the water supply has been contaminated by firefighting foam. In that case, legal action will likely be taken against those responsible for releasing this dangerous product into the environment. As such, those who live in these areas may qualify for reimbursement if they have had their private property damaged or experienced any medical issue related to these toxic chemicals entering their bodies through water consumption.
Finally, suppose you have lost income due to disability caused by exposure to these dangerous chemicals. In that case, it might be worth exploring whether or not pursuing legal action would help improve current conditions and prevent future injuries from occurring at work sites where this material is used regularly without proper safety precautions being taken during storage/use protocols.
Conclusion
If you develop cancer or if your water supply is contaminated, you may be eligible for compensation due to contamination by firefighting foam. Companies that dump toxic chemicals into the environment must protect the public from these harmful substances. In many cases, companies fail to keep workers safe and prevent widespread groundwater contamination.
Firefighting foam was initially designed to coat buildings during fires so firefighters could enter safely and extinguish flames quickly. However, when it comes in contact with heat or electricity (as it often does), specific components of this product can react violently, resulting in a chemical reaction called “polymerization” that creates large amounts of carbon monoxide gas and other dangerous toxins.
The EPA has linked exposure to these chemicals with severe health conditions such as brain damage or cancer. They’ve also warned against drinking water supplies near military bases where these foams were used extensively over decades. But many people continue to drink those same contaminated sources today without knowing their risks or how much damage they might cause later down the road.
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