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Standardized Testing of Commercial Fire Fighting Foam Agents
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and United States Air Force (USAF)
have been partnering for the past ten years on the standardized testing of
commercial fire fighting foam agents. Both the FAA and USAF received
numerous requests each year from foam manufacturers to purchase their
products for use as fire extinguishing agents. Many companies only have the
resources to test their agents on small fires that are often conducted in
uncontrolled conditions. While results from small fires can look promising,
fire fighting agents perform differently under large fire conditions, such
as would be experienced at an aircraft accident. Manufacturers are also
striving to improve the chemical hazards that have been associated with some
fire fighting agents.
The FAA and USAF adopted two standardized test protocols for evaluating
candidate foam agents for environmental aquatic toxicity and fire
extinguishing/burnback. The American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) Standard Guide for Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests with Fishes,
Macroinvertebrates and Amphibians. E 729-88a is being followed for testing
aquatic toxicity. The Military Specification (Mil-Spec) MIL-F-24385F Fire
Extinguishing Agent, Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Liquid Concentrate,
For Fresh and Sea Water. Section 4.7.13 Twenty-eight square foot fire test
is being followed for evaluating foam fire extinguishment and burnback
performance. The aquatic toxicity testing determines the concentration of
foam that has an adverse affect on the environment. The Mil-Spec
extinguishment and burnback provides information on the fire fighting
characteristics of the foam in comparison to the standards set by the United
States military. All foams are tested along with a Mil-Spec AFFF baseline,
which has well-defined aquatic toxicity and extinguishment/burnback
properties. Foams that show similar or better performance are encourage to
complete Mil-Spec testing to become officially listed on the qualified
product list (QPL) so that agencies, such as the FAA and USAF, can purchase
their products. The aquatic toxicity and extinguishment/burnback tests were
chosen because they are highly repeatable, easy to perform, minimize cost
and provide information on two important performance characteristics.
Standardized testing assures that all products are evaluated against the
same criteria and only the best products are listed for purchased by our
fire departments. To date, over twenty-five different fire fighting foams
have been evaluated by this program. Fire fighting foam manufacturers are
encouraged to contact the FAA for testing of their products.
 
Please submit all suggestions, comments, or responses in writing to:
Mr. Keith Bagot
FAA Technical Center
ARFF Research Program
AAR-411, Bldg. 296
Atlantic City International Airport
New Jersey, 08405
Contact Project Lead: Keith Bagot,
ATO-P (formerly AAR-411)
Last Update:
04/17/07
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