Name: Soy-based firefighting foam offers PFAS-free alternative
Uploaded: 2025-12-24T03:51:48.737Z
Duration: 4 min 3 s
Description: A new soy-based firefighting foam offers a potential alternative for firefighters across the country who have long relied on specialized foams to extinguish dangerous fuel fires.

A new soy-based firefighting foam offers a potential alternative for firefighters across the country who have long relied on specialized foams to extinguish dangerous fuel fires.

Salem

A soy-based firefighting foam developed by the United Soybean Board is being adopted by more than 150 fire departments in 29 states as an alternative to traditional foams containing PFAS, also known as 'forever chemicals.' PFAS have been linked to serious health issues, including several types of cancer and immune system problems, prompting a nationwide search for safer solutions. 

The soy foam contains no PFAS, fluorulence, or carcinogens, and has demonstrated effectiveness in extinguishing fires during training exercises. Its adoption not only aims to improve firefighter safety but also provides new domestic markets for U.S. soybean farmers, many of whom have been impacted by international trade tariffs. The Department of Defense has set a deadline of 2026 to eliminate PFAS-containing foams from military use.

Soy-based firefighting foam offers PFAS-free alternative

Last week Congress released the latest defense authorization bill, the new language giving the Pentagon an extension to eliminate that firefighting foam that contains what are called forever chemicals. It's something that has been on their to-do list now for years. Scripps News Business and Tech correspondent Maura Barrett went to rural Illinois to find out what's at stake for firefighters who are exposed to these chemicals. Many of the extinguishing foams that firefighters use against blazes across the country have what's known as PFAS in them or forever chemicals and they're really effective at fighting fires but they're also tied to some pretty serious health problems so there's this big push to find an alternative and that's why we're here in Salem Illinois exploring a new solution that's sprouting up in some of the firefighters literal backyards. In Salem Illinois and across much of rural America fire departments rely on volunteers many of them farmers by day with their fields prepped for the winter season their nights are spent training for the next emergency. Appreciate y'all allowing me to come up here and be a part of your training. Tonight's session testing a new firefighting foam made from the same crop many of them farm every day soybeans. The United Soybean Board and they said they had developed a foam a firefighting foam that contained no PFAS, no fluorulence, no carcinogens but was as effective as anything that we were using that kind of piqued my interest. Jeff King is the assistant fire chief in Corydon Kentucky after his department tested the new material aptly called soy foam they became the first in the country to switch to it exclusively. It's now used in more than a hundred and fifty fire departments across 29 states expanding quickly as the price is competitive to current products. How much of a game-changer is this product when it comes to firefighter safety? This is a win-win-win. I've farmed all my life it's made out of soybeans so that's a good box to check and then I'm not doing any additional harm to the environment. We're exposed to when a lot of these new manufactured synthetic products they're putting off a tremendous amount of carcinogens and stuff when they're burned. The introduction of soy foam is one less carcinogen that we're exposing ourselves to. At the Salem fire training facility the team ignites a crude oil fire. The flames rapidly climbing at least 10 feet. The firefighters spring to action activating the new soy foam using the same gear they always do. The targeted spray knocking down the fire in just seconds. I mean it knocked it out fast. Got put out pretty quick quicker than what I expected. I thought it was gonna go on a little longer than that but that was that was impressive. We can tap a new market that's great and make it safer for everybody that's always good. PFAS often called forever chemicals are found in some firefighting foams as well as fertilizer and hazardous waste. Exposure has been linked to higher risks of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers plus fertility and immune system problems. The research behind soy foam funded by the United Soybean Board is also about creating new markets for more than half a million U.S. soybean farmers many hit hard by tariffs. Retaliatory tariffs following President Trump's trade policies cut off access to China the largest market for U.S. soybeans sending prices below the cost of production. With the tariffs and how they're affecting the state of the industry how important is it to continue to find new markets like these? Anytime we can use more of our products produced domestically and use them domestically is a big advantage for us. We're developing new customers every day. The next big hurdle is to make sure alternative foams like these meet requirements for military firefighting. Those trainings have become a hub for contamination and a major cause of concern so much so that the Department of Defense has mandated the chemical be eliminated with an extended deadline to do so by 2026. Maura Barry, Scripps News Group, Salem, Illinois.

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