PFAS in firefighter gear after abrasion, heat and weathering: in gloves the median total rose from 180 to 1,330 µg/kg
On 13 May 2026 NIST published its fourth report on PFAS in firefighter protective gear (NIST Technical Note 2375). It measured 56 PFAS in 22 textiles from structural firefighting gloves and hoods and from wildland firefighting clothing — after abrasion, heat or weathering with UV radiation at elevated humidity.
- Samples were rubbed with a wool pad at a standardised speed and pressure 20,000 times or until the fabric fell apart (gloves were not abraded), gloves and hoods were heated for 5 minutes in a convection oven at about 260 °C, and wildland gear was weathered with UV light and moisture; PFAS were determined by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.
- The median total PFAS in glove layers rose after heating from 180 ± 17 to 1,330 ± 270 µg/kg, and in hoods from 1.07 ± 0.14 to 4.00 ± 0.79 µg/kg after abrasion and to 86 ± 15 µg/kg after heating.
- In wildland firefighting clothing the median fell from 5,520 ± 930 to 942 ± 125 µg/kg after abrasion and to 1,450 ± 90 µg/kg after weathering. The changes mainly concerned the compounds dominating in new textiles: MeFBSE, 6:2 FTOH and 6:2 FTS in gloves, PFBA and 6:2 FTS in hoods, and 6:2 FTOH and 6:2 FTMAC in wildland gear.
- The authors caution that targeted methods cannot tell whether the changes come from chemical transformation of untargeted PFAS or from easier extraction after degradation of the textile and fluoropolymers. The reports do not assess health risks; in future studies NIST plans to measure fluorine and bromine, among other things.