Aqueous Film Forming Foam, or AFFF, is a firefighting agent used commercially and by the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Air Force since 1970. Most commonly used to combat petroleum fires in aircraft accidents,hangars and during live-fire training exercises, this formulation of AFFF contains perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) - two perfluorinated compounds that persist in the environment are not known to degrade by any natural process.
In March 2011, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center initiated an informal plan for Air Force fire chiefs to dispose of “excess” PFOS-based AFFF Air Force-wide over a 10-year period. In November 2015, more environmentally responsible formulas were added to the DoD’s qualified products list for firefighting agents. The Air Force began replacing both PFOS-based and other legacy AFFF products with a new, environmentally responsible formula in August 2016. The Air Force completed new foam delivery in August 2017. The Air Force is eliminating legacy AFFF through incineration at authorized disposal facilities.