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What is AFFF?

Aqueous Film Forming Foam (or AFFF) is a firefighting foam developed jointly by the US Navy and the 3M Company in the 1960s and is used to extinguish fires from liquid fuels.

Due to PFAS toxicity of AFFF in military base drinking water systems, the military is attempting to phase out of using AFFF as a fire suppression method; however, it is still commonly used in the military on flight lines and Navy vessels because of its effectiveness in extinguishing fuel fires.

Why is there a lawsuit?

When AFFF was used to extinguish fires on military bases, the discharged firefighting foam contaminated the base’s drinking water supply. The contamination on and around military bases is magnitudes greater than any drinking water system in the United States.

The US Government and Manufacturers of AFFF had a responsibility to mitigate and disclose the contamination of base drinking water but did not do so, resulting in millions of servicemen and women and their families unknowingly consuming toxic levels of PFAS chemicals on a regular basis for many years.

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Who can file a claim?

Any US military veteran, active servicemember, military dependents and contractors who regularly lived and worked on or near a US military base who developed any of the following conditions can file a claim:

  • Kidney cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Ulcerative Colitis

You can learn more about who is qualified to file a claim in our FAQ section.

FAQs

AFFF was used extensively on hundreds of military bases and contaminated the drinking water supply with toxic cancer-causing PFAS chemicals for millions of prior and current servicemembers and their families who lived on or near these military bases.

Because this toxic contamination in potable base tap water was not disclosed or remediated, servicemen and women and their families consumed extremely high levels of PFAS chemicals on a regular basis for many years, causing a higher rate of cancers and other rare conditions than other demographic groups in the US.  The failure to disclose and filter the drinking water to non-toxic levels on military installations is the basis for this lawsuit.

There are two requirements that must be met in determining whether a military service member, veteran, military dependent, or contractor can file a claim:

  1. You were/are diagnosed with a qualifying cancer (see the qualifying cancer list in the FAQ section), ulcerative colitis, severe hypothyroidism, or Parkinson’s Disease.
  2. You were diagnosed for one of the above qualifying conditions after living on or near a US military base after 1970.

You can find out if you qualify instantly HERE.

Base water systems continue to be tested but just about every US military base tested extremely high for AFFF contaminated drinking water.  Navy and Air Force bases tend to have the worst contamination concentrations in their drinking water systems, but there are also many Army bases and National Guard facilities with extremely contaminated water supplies.  You can see which bases tested the highest for toxic PFAS compounds HERE.

The main PFAS chemical compounds in AFFF that have scientifically been linked to causing cancer and certain other severe illnesses are PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate).

Currently, the science has tied the following cancers and illnesses to toxic PFOA and PFOS consumption which are being tried in the current AFFF lawsuit:

  • Testicular cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Ulcerative Colitis

There are also some studies that associate bladder cancer, prostate cancer, and pancreatic cancer to consuming certain PFAS chemicals.

However at this time, prostate, bladder, and pancreatic cancers are not qualified conditions to make a claim in this lawsuit.

This may change in the future if further studies are conducted that tie these conditions to PFAS exposure through ingesting contaminated food and water.

As this case progresses through the Federal court, we aim to prove that there is evidence that conclusively ties these cancers to high levels of PFOS and PFOA ingestion.

We will keep this page updated with the latest information and rulings from the Courts.

No, this claim will not negatively affect any pending VA Disability claims or any existing VA Disability Ratings or status.

In fact, if you have not made a VA Disability claim for a qualifying cancer, ulcerative colitis, hypothyroidism, or Parkinson’s Disease, we can provide you with assistance in filing your VA Disability claim in addition to your private legal claim.

No.  As of 2025, you can still file a claim even if you were treated for your cancer and are now in remission.

No. Many firms are incorrectly advertising this lawsuit as a class action suit.  But it is actually a mass tort — which is fundamentally different than a class action. In this lawsuit, each claimant suffered different severities of injury and will therefore maintain individual claims (as opposed to an evenly distributed class claim with a class representative). You will be able to determine whether you want to settle your individual suit or try the case.

Settlement amounts drastically differ between class action suits and mass torts.  A mass tort settlement for a qualified claimant typically starts at thousands of dollars and can range up to millions of dollars. We believe that the a qualified claimant in the AFFF lawsuit will be able to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars on average.

No. There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the AFFF lawsuit, who qualifies, and what the lawsuit is actually about.

While it’s true that, on average, the US Navy and US Air Force had more direct occupational exposure to AFFF than any other military service branch, it is the fact that the AFFF contaminated the drinking water systems for the entire military installation.

Therefore, the AFFF lawsuit applies to ALL prior and current servicemembers and base contractors if they lived on or near any US military base for at least 6 consecutive months.

That means that any prior or current servicemember who at least completed basic training and served after 1970 likely meets the exposure criteria of this lawsuit. If that person was additionally diagnosed with a qualifying cancer or other condition, then they would qualify for the AFFF lawsuit.

Important Note: The AFFF lawsuit also applies to any family members (spouses and children) of military servicemembers who lived in on-base housing after 1970 who were diagnosed with any of the qualifying conditions included in this lawsuit.

You can sign up right through our site by answering some questions via a brief questionnaire. If you are a strong candidate for this case, you will have the opportunity to complete the signup process completely online without having to make an appointment or wait for a phone call. You can complete that entire process in less than 5 minutes HERE.

After you sign up with our firm, we will ask you to gather any documents regarding your diagnosis and treatment as well as documents regarding your service dates.

At this time, prostate cancer is not one of the officially accepted conditions in the AFFF lawsuit.

Some law firms are currently accepting prostate cancer cases but it’s important to understand that these cases are simply being “warehoused” as prostate cancer has not been accepted as a linked condition in this lawsuit. You may not be told this so it’s important to understand the facts and manage your expectations.

However, as more scientific evidence emerges linking PFAS to prostate cancer, it is possible that future claims could be considered.

  • Legal Efforts: Advocacy groups are pushing for prostate cancer to be included in PFAS-related legal cases as research continues to build.
  • What Affected Individuals Can Do: If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and have a history of PFAS exposure through military service, firefighting, or industrial work, keep your medical records up to date and ensure you get a PFAS blood test.

For individuals who suspect their prostate cancer may be linked to PFAS exposure, staying informed about legal developments and participating in medical monitoring programs may be beneficial in the event of future compensation opportunities.

AFFF Lawsuit Sign Up Portal

VA Disability Resources

List of Military Bases with AFFF Contamination in Drinking Water

Lawsuit Updates