Local scientists take toxic sting out of fire-fighting-foam

Australian scientists have developed a technology for isolating the toxic chemicals escaping into the environment for the last 50 years from fire-fighting-foams.

Researchers at the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) have created a new substance called MatCARETM to treat contaminated waste-water left after fire or emergency training sites have been hosed down.

Designed to modify the adsorbent properties of naturally-occurring clays, the technology targets the two key chemicals of PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), both of which accumulate in the blood and the liver and have been linked to bladder and liver cancer in animals as well as developmental and reproductive toxicity including neonatal mortality.

“These chemicals are very stable, and can move rapidly into local soils and waters where, because they are so long-lasting, they can reach quite unacceptable levels,” said CRC CARE team leader Dr Venkata Kambala.

He added that many of the world’s nearly 50,000 airports have been using foam in fire fighting exercises as well as part of fire drills for 50 years or more, “and the chemicals have been subsequently detected in nearby groundwater and streams”.

Other areas of concern are the countless sites of road and railway accidents as well as buildings where fire-fighting foam has been used over the decades. Past clean-up techniques have relied on carbon filters which are more expensive and less effective.

CRC CARE managing director Professor Ravi Naidu said that MatCARETM represents “the first practical, cost-effective clean-up solution to the large-scale water and soil pollution caused by decades of foam use all over the world.”

“It is to Australia’s credit we have been able to come up with a promising answer to this global problem.” The CRC CARE team has also developed a new field kit to test for the presence of the contaminants.

Recently the team was awarded a 2010 CRC STAR Award from the Department of Industry Innovation Science and Research for their work, which was conducted in partnership with South Australian company Soil and Groundwater Consulting Pty Ltd, with support from the Australian Department of Defence.