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NMiF discusses Delta blues, toxins and firefighters, Congressional update August 04, 2021 This week on New Mexico in Focus, environmental correspondent Laura Paskus speaks with a former U.S. Air Force firefighter who served at Cannon Air Force Base in the 1990s. Part of the award-winning NMPBS series “Groundwater War,” the interview touches on what the Air Force knew about toxic chemicals used in firefighting foam and what it told its airmen and women about their safety.
Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez returns home during the August recess and sits down with senior producer Matt Grubs to talk about the effort by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to forge a compromise bill that will spend some $1 trillion on infrastructure projects. The pair also discuss the House response and larger Democratic priorities, the potential for immigration reform, and the Delta variant of COVID-19. ....
While almost everyone has PFAS in their blood through exposure to water, dust and everyday products that contain the chemicals, firefighters may have greater contact with PFAS than any other group of workers. In addition to using and often getting doused with AFFF, it has become clear in recent years that the clothing that was supposed to protect them while fighting fires, known as turnout gear, is also saturated with PFAS. Given the frequent contact with the toxic chemicals, which accumulate in the body and cause kidney cancer, depressed immune function, and elevated cholesterol, among other health problems, it may not be surprising that firefighters have both relatively high levels of the chemicals in their blood and elevated rates of cancer diagnoses. Firefighters also have a death rate from cancers that is 14 percent higher than that of the general population, according to a study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. ....