Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are a group of toxic, man-made chemicals, and as part of a regional GEF-funded POPs project, in 2016 inventories were conducted to determine the status of these POPs chemicals in the country. One group of these POPs is perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS). PFAS is a group of man-made chemicals which degrade very slowly, and have the ability to repel oil, grease and water. This has led to its widespread use in several applications, including in firefighting foams.
Coming out of the inventory on firefighting foams, it was noted that one of the sub-groups of PFAS, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), may not be present, however, there are other related substances such as perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOA) that may still present a challenge. In light of this, and given the recommendation within the PFOS inventory report that a more detailed inventory of firefighting foams should be conducted, the national Project Working Committee (PWC) under the project developed a pilot proposal on PFOS/PFAS, specifically for the Tobago arm of the Fire Services, given the limited financial resources.
The objective of the pilot project is to reduce the human health and environmental impacts of PFOS/PFAS firefighting foams used in Tobago Fire Stations, by catalyzing a sustainable transition towards use of safer PFOS/PFAS-free alternatives. There are three (3) main project components:
- Identification and analysis of firefighting foams
- Assessment of barriers and opportunities for use of PFOS/PFAS free alternatives
- Information and Awareness Communications Campaign
The Kick-Off Meeting for the project was held on August 27, 2021 with the Chair of the PWC, Ms. Keima Gardiner, Ministry of Planning and Development; key members of the PWC, namely the EMA and the THA’s representative; the BCRC Caribbean; and the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service representative for the Tobago Fire stations. The project is anticipated to be completed in December 2021.
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