Per and polyfluoroalkylated substances ( are a group of manmade chemicals that may be found in aqueous film forming foam ( used in some fire suppression systems, including portable handheld fire extinguishers.

While PFAS encompass a very large number of substances and the effects of most of these are unknown, PFAS (such as perfluorooctanoic acid ( and perfluorooctane sulfonate ( are widely recognised as harmful to humans and the environment PFAS are often described as the “forever chemicals” due to their persistent nature meaning they break down very slowly, if at all, in the environment and so can pose long term risks.

Furthermore, many PFAS present in fire fighting foams are both bioavailable and bioaccumulative, meaning they are easily absorbed by living organisms and can increase in concentration within the body PFAS discharged on land, can contaminate the soil, or be washed off into streams, rivers, potentially contaminating groundwater and drinking water supplies.

There is a requirement of annual reporting to the EPA of stockpiles of fire-fighting foams containing Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and PFOA-related substances.

A full list of substances that are classed as “PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds” is available at PFAS | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie). This currently consists of 32 substances

EDEN reporting is only required for stockpiles > 50 kg ( smaller stockpiles are reports via email to pops@epa.ie )