It is well understood that firefighters are exposed to contaminants. Those contaminants soil firefighter PPE and other fire service gear. Cross-contaminated equipment and gear are suspected of adversely influencing long-term firefighter health and wellness.

As a consequence, PPE and other gear are being cleaned more frequently. However, it’s not known if current or new cleaning procedures adequately remove contaminants. Two major research efforts are now addressing the question of “how clean is clean?” These are:

• PPE Cleaning Validation (Project 1)
• Fire Service Gear Cleaning Validation (Project 2)
• Improved PPE Cleaning Best Practices & Exposure Assessment (Project 3)