ESSHA

Five years Charlene Beach and I worked

Five years of questions, research, testing, setbacks, waiting, and refusing to let this go.

Even after more setbacks during publishing

Today, the lord said it’s time. The research is officially published.

What started as a question about the chemicals firefighters may be exposed to through the textiles we wear has become peer-reviewed science published in Environmental Science & Technology.

This work goes beyond PFAS. It advances how researchers can screen textiles for chemical elements associated with PFAS, flame retardants, dyes, metals, and other compounds—and applies that work to occupational textiles, including firefighter station wear.

I cannot thank Dr. Graham Peaslee, Dr. Alyssa Wicks, and the entire research team at University of Notre Dame enough for taking this question seriously and putting the science first.

For ESSHA and Armadillo Woolery, this was never about fear.

It was about a simple belief:

Firefighters deserve to know what is in the clothing they wear for 24-hour shifts.

Today, we have another piece of the science needed to have that conversation.

Five years.

Published in Environmental Science & Technology:

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6c06909

Validation of a Rapid Screening Method for Textile Additives with Applications to Firefighter Station Wear Abstract. Firefighters have previously received attention for their occupational exposure to numerous chemicals of concern through their turnout gear, aque

Five years.

Five years of work, frustration, interviews, research, a Master’s thesis, more setbacks than I care to count, and a ridiculously long peer-review process.

And now, it’s finally happening. The research Charlene Beach and I started with University of Notre Dame will be published in Environmental Science & Technology this Friday or Monday.

What started years ago as questions about what firefighters are exposed to through the clothing we wear every day is now becoming published, peer-reviewed science.

There were plenty of times I wondered if we’d ever get to this point.

Hard to keep my eyes from sweating on this one.

Five years. We fu***ng did it. 🔥

2026-2027 Sylvester FCI Toolkit Program Study: Training Fellowship is now accepting applications. Become a fellow and provide peer-to-peer cancer prevention education as part of a research study.

To apply:

https://redcap.miami.edu/surveys/?s=RNED9LP7CFRRW9F9

New research continues to expand the conversation around chemical exposure in the fire service—and it goes well beyond PFAS.

Recent peer-reviewed studies and technical reports are examining:

🔥 PAHs in firefighter PPE — Research found contaminants can pe*****te beyond the outer shell and accumulate within multiple layers of turnout gear.

🧪 PFAS and gear wear — NIST found that abrasion, heat, and weathering can change measurable PFAS levels in firefighter hoods, gloves, and wildland clothing.

🏠 Fire station air — Researchers detected PFAS and other semivolatile organic compounds in fire station air, including gear-storage environments.

⚗️ Heavy metals & flame retardants — Biomonitoring research continues to demonstrate that firefighter chemical-exposure concerns extend well beyond a single class of compounds.

The larger issue is cumulative exposure.

Firefighters don’t encounter chemicals only during active fire suppression. PPE, occupational clothing, contaminated equipment, and the station environment are increasingly being examined as potential pieces of a much larger exposure picture.

There are also important limitations. Detection does not automatically establish absorption, health effects, or causation. We need to be careful not to make claims beyond what the science demonstrates.

But the direction of the research reinforces something we strongly believe:

Firefighters deserve greater transparency about the chemistry of the equipment and clothing they wear.

At ESSHA, that’s one of the reasons we’re pushing for better testing, greater chemical transparency, and occupational textiles designed with exposure reduction in mind.

Evaluating Legacy and Emerging PFAS in Human Blood Collected from 2003 to 2021

Evaluating Legacy and Emerging PFAS in Human Blood Collected from 2003 to 2021 Abstract. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of manmade chemicals linked to numerous health outcomes including cancers and increased c

“PFAS Toxicity: What’s True, What’s Not, and What Really Matters”

Correction to “PFAS Toxicity: What’s True, What’s Not, and What Really Matters” An error occurred with in-text citations and references. The affected paragraphs with updated citations and the corrected references are shown below.

We expected to find PFAS and flame-retardant chemicals.

What surprised us was the broader range of substances detected across occupational and civilian clothing samples—including heavy metals and halogenated compounds.

The civilian clothing was originally included as a control. Instead, its results showed us that chemical exposure through textiles may be a much broader problem than firefighter uniforms alone.

Firefighters deserve to know what is in the clothing they wear against their skin for an entire shift.

Watch the full conversation:
https://www.youtube.com/live/qJMQE5QuA4k

If anyone in Wyoming County, WV has water issues contact us. We have resources available.

Known and Novel Per/Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Serum of Tucson (AZ) Firefighters

pubs.acs.org

ESSHA will be looking into the water crisis in Southern WV. Our legal team has been notified and we are actively investigating. More to come. We are also aware of the recent flooding. If supplies are needed contact myself or ESSHA. We will also reach out to county leaders as we have a partnership with SOURCE hydropanels