NHPR
By Annie Ropeik
June 9, 2020

A new bill sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen would help military families get tested for PFAS chemical exposure.

The proposal would cover people who are or were stationed at hundreds of military installations with PFAS contamination.

PFAS are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment and were used in a kind of firefighting foam that is still stockpiled on many bases.

Shaheen worked on legislation that will require that foam to be phased out of military use by 2024, and got a proposal passed to include PFAS testing in military firefighters’ annual physicals.

Her new bill would ensure military health insurance coverage for service members and their dependents to get PFAS blood tests.

The military is currently investigating the effects of chemicals like PFAS on veterans who worked at the former Pease Air Base.