Whitepaper – the future-proof fluorine-free water additive for the portable extinguisher market

Discover the twin technologies behind the FFX^® solution

AFFFs – a safety product with long-term repercussions

Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) has been used in firefighting for more than 50 years, as it rapidly extinguishes hydrocarbon fuel fires. AFFFs have the additional property of forming an aqueous film on the fuel surface that prevents evaporation and fuel re-ignition once the foam has extinguished it. Thanks to their outstanding performance on these fuel fires, this AFFF family of firefighting foams has become the dominant technology in this business.

Until recently however, AFFFs included the toxic and bio-cumulative chemicals called PFOS and PFOA. These are now known to be noxious for health, as they behave as endocrine disruptors.

Since 2015, most AFFF manufacturers have transitioned to short-chain (C6) fluorotelomer-based PFAS. These foams are often referred to as “modern” in order to distinguish them from the legacy foams and now highly regulated long-chain (C8) PFAS chemicals.