Review article
FLUOROSURFACTANTS IN FOAMS – BENEFIT OR RISK FOR FIRE FIGHTERS AND ENVIRONMENT
Aleksandar Regent
; Veleučilište u Rijeci, Odjel sigurnosti na radu, Rijeka
Abstract
Because of the PBT (persistency, bioaccumulation and toxicity) profile of PFOS, 3M totally suspended production of PFOS based fluorochemicals in December 2002 and EU adopted Directive 2006/122/EC in December 2006, which greatly restricts/bans further use of PFOS in great majority of products, including firefighting foams. Causes and scope of fluorosurfactant use in foams, as well as the indicators of their toxicity in the natural environmental have been analysed in this paper. Instead of PFOS based foams, fluorotelomer based foams, foams without fluorotelomers (3F) and training foams (TF) are being manufactured today. An analysis of the environmental impact, methods for decreasing environmental pollution and the characteristics and performance of modern firefighting foams in relation to their chemical formulation, as well as short and long term toxicity, have been presented. Detailed proposals and recommendations for new procedures of environmentally responsible foam fire prevention and suppression based on new European Directives on PFOS and Groundwater have been enclosed and related to chemical composition and efficiency of various foams.
Keywords
Directive 2006/122/EC on perfluorooctane sulphonate; firefighting foams; short and long term environmental pollution; fluorotelomer based foams; fluorine free foams; proposal for decreasing environmental impact
Hrčak ID:
21293
URI
Publication date:
1.4.2008.
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