Firefighters and veterans are getting cancer from the foam they trained with for decades.

If you were a firefighter or served in the military, you probably trained with AFFF — a thick, white foam sprayed on fuel fires. It was incredibly effective at putting out flames. What nobody told you was that it was also incredibly toxic.

AFFF contains PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a class of man-made chemicals that scientists call 'forever chemicals' because they never break down — not in the environment, and not in your body. Every time firefighters trained with this foam, they were soaking in it. It got on their skin, they breathed it in, and it accumulated in their blood.

Military personnel, especially in the Navy and Air Force, had the same exposure. The chemicals also seeped into the groundwater near bases, airports, and fire stations — contaminating the drinking water for entire communities. The manufacturers — especially 3M — knew about the dangers for decades.

Internal documents show 3M was aware that PFAS accumulated in human blood as early as the 1970s. They kept selling it anyway. 3M has since agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement for water contamination, but individual cancer claims are still being fought.