PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are known to cause cancer.
Commonly used in certain fields, workers like firefighters are now much more aware of the risks of putting on their protective gear or using their foam. Such health risks are why these chemicals are being phased out — and why, in the last two years, the city of Quincy specifically sought to buy equipment free of PFAS.
But city officials say independent testing uncovered that gear still contains these forever chemicals.
“The new gear we bought — sold to us on the premise it had no PFAS in it, PFAS-free, that’s how it was advertised — was recently independently tested and came back highly positive with PFAS components in the gear,” Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said at a press conference Thursday.
Testing was conducted on one of 30 sets of protective gear bought by the city in the last two years. Koch said the city has now sent out additional sets of gear for testing.
“We’re going to find just how far back and how widespread this issue has become,” Koch said. “We dedicated all the necessary resources to resolve this matter, up to and including legal action, which we’ll take a serious look at against the companies that are responsible.”
The company that manufactured the materials used in the firefighting suits, South Carolina-based Safety Components, transitioned away from using PFAS chemicals in the manufacturing process of all its fabrics in early 2025, according to a spokesperson.
A company spokesperson said Safety Components no longer has any fluorine chemistries in its facilities, and that it’s taking these concerns seriously.
“Fluorine chemistry is not intentionally added in the manufacture of any Safety Components fabrics, including those used for firefighter turnout gear,” the spokesperson wrote. “The levels of fluorine detected by the testing performed by the City of Quincy were very low, and the source of the trace levels of fluorine detected has not been determined. Our latest testing of fabrics from our manufacturing facility and used in firefighter turnout gear showed no traces of fluorine.”
But the scientist at Notre Dame University who tested the Quincy gear says the levels went far beyond what could be considered “trace amounts.”
“Twenty parts per million is probably a trace amount,” said Graham Peaslee, professor emeritus at Notre Dame. “We found something in there which is approaching a 10th of a percent, which is about, you know, over a thousand parts per a million or 2,000 parts per million, or something like that. So that’s not trace. That actually has some function. It will provide some water repellency and things like that.”
That’s less PFAS than protective gear used to have when it was a commonly used ingredient, Peaslee said.
“It has been treated with something less,” he said. “But it is still obviously intentional.”
Although Peaslee tested just one set of gear, the other 29 purchased by the city came from the same manufacturing batch. When he tests more sets, he expects they will be contaminated, as well.
Even though they’re effective at providing fire resistance, these chemicals have been intentionally phased out due to the health problems they can cause. Starting in 2027, it will be prohibited to knowingly sell firefighting gear containing PFAS in Massachusetts.
Tom Bowes, president of Quincy’s Firefighters Local 792, said he was “shocked and outraged” to hear that PFAS had been found in the outer shell of one of the department’s protective uniforms.
“This gear not only exposed the members wearing it every day, it’s exposed to the members working at the stations and riding on the rigs. And potentially exposing family members if a member has the gear in their car to be detailed out to another company. Obviously, this was all very concerning,” he said.
Bowes said two of the city’s active firefighters and some recent retirees are currently fighting what he described as occupational cancer.
“We think about each of them every day, and the fights they’re going through,” Bowes said. “And after seeing what the hell just happened, we wonder if some of this sickness could have been avoided. These companies are paid to protect us — the protectors — and they have failed miserably.”
