Firefighting foams serve a vital role in fire protection throughout the world. Their use has proven to be essential for the control of flammable liquid fire threats. The ability of foam to rapidly extinguish flammable liquid spill fires has undoubtedly saved many lives, reduced property loss, and helped minimize the global pollution that can result from the uncontrolled burning of flammable liquids.
However, with ever-increasing environmental awareness, recent concern has focused on the potential adverse environmental impact of foam solution discharges. The primary concerns are toxicity, biodegradability, persistence, mobility, treatability in wastewater treatment plants, and nutrient loading.
All of these are of concern when the end-use foam solutions reach natural or domestic water systems. It should be emphasized that it is not the intent of this guidance document to limit or restrict the use of firefighting foam. The fire safety advantages of using foam are greater than the risks of potential environmental problems. The ultimate goal of this guidance document is to foster use of foam in an environmentally responsible manner so as to minimize risk from its use.