Metals in Wildfire Suppressants

Frequent and severe wildfires have led to increased application of fire suppression products (long-term fire retardants, water enhancers, and Class A foams) in the American West. While fire suppressing products used on wildfires must be approved by the U.S. Forest Service, portions of their formulations are trade secrets. Increased metals content in soils and surface waters at the wildland-urban interface has been observed after wildfires but has primarily been attributed to ash deposition or anthropogenic impact from nearby urban areas. In this study, metal concentrations in several fire suppression products (some approved by the U.S. Forest Service, and some marketed for consumer use) were quantified to evaluate whether these products could contribute to increased metal concentrations observed in the environment postfire. Long-term fire retardants contained concentrations of toxic metals (V, Cr, Mn, Cu, As, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, and Pb) 4–2,880 times greater than drinking water regulatory limits, and potentially greater than some aquatic toxicity thresholds when released into the environment. Water enhancers and Class A foams contained some metals, but at lower concentrations than fire retardants. Based on these concentrations and retardant application records, we estimate fire retardant application in the U.S. contributed approximately 380,000 kg of toxic metals to the environment between 2009 and 2021.