This page is part of our Toxic Exposure & Asbestos Lawsuits hub — explore all case types and your legal options.
AFFF Firefighting Foam Lawsuit 2026: PFAS Cancer Claims for Veterans & Firefighters
The AFFF firefighting foam lawsuit holds manufacturers of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) accountable for exposing military veterans, airport firefighters, and industrial workers to dangerous PFAS “forever chemicals” that cause cancer. According to the EPA’s PFAS Action Plan, PFAS from AFFF has contaminated groundwater near hundreds of military bases and airports. If you were exposed to AFFF firefighting foam and developed cancer, you may be entitled to AFFF lawsuit compensation.
Use our free PFAS/AFFF settlement calculator for an instant estimate.
AFFF Lawsuit Settlement Amounts 2026
No AFFF personal injury settlement has been reached, and no personal injury settlement fund exists. Figures such as $150,000 to $500,000 for kidney cancer claims circulate widely, but they are analyst projections modelled on comparable litigation — not payments anyone has received and not court-approved terms. The settlements that have been paid resolved public water system contamination claims, not individual injury claims. Military veterans and career firefighters with long-term AFFF exposure and serious cancers are the core claimant group, and the AFFF MDL is one of the largest toxic tort litigations in U.S. history, with hundreds of defendants. For the full breakdown, see our AFFF lawsuit settlement amounts guide.
Who Can File an AFFF Lawsuit?
- Military veterans who trained with or used AFFF at military installations (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard)
- Airport firefighters and Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) personnel
- Industrial facility firefighters and hazmat responders who used AFFF foam
- People diagnosed with kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid cancer, or bladder cancer after AFFF exposure
- Communities near military bases or airports with documented PFAS groundwater contamination
AFFF MDL Status 2026
AFFF lawsuits are consolidated in MDL 2873 in the District of South Carolina before Judge Richard Gergel. Major AFFF defendants include 3M, DuPont, Chemours, Tyco Fire Products, and others. Water utility claims were largely resolved through the 3M settlement — a pre-tax present value of up to $10.3 billion over 13 years, with a nominal cap of $12.5 billion, granted final approval on 29 March 2024 — together with the DuPont/Chemours/Corteva ($1.185 billion), Tyco ($750 million) and BASF ($316.5 million) settlements. Individual AFFF personal injury cancer cases continue to proceed through bellwether trials in 2026.
AFFF and the PACT Act
The PACT Act of 2022 expanded VA healthcare and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances including PFAS from AFFF. Veterans may qualify for BOTH VA disability benefits AND an AFFF civil lawsuit settlement — these are separate and non-exclusive remedies that can be pursued simultaneously.
Related PFAS Lawsuits
- PFAS Settlement Amounts — which confirmed figures pay claimants and which pay water systems
- PFAS Cancer Lawsuit — general PFAS exposure claims
- Roundup Lawsuit — glyphosate cancer claims
- Mesothelioma Lawsuit — asbestos cancer claims for firefighters
AFFF Lawsuit FAQs
What is AFFF firefighting foam made of?
AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) contains PFAS compounds — perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and related chemicals — that create a film to suppress flammable liquid fires. These PFAS compounds do not break down in the environment or the human body, bioaccumulate over time, and have been linked to multiple cancers and health conditions in AFFF lawsuit litigation.
SourceEPAPFAS risks
How do I prove AFFF exposure?
Evidence of AFFF exposure includes: military service records showing assignment to bases with AFFF use, employment records for airport or industrial firefighters, documentation of PFAS contamination in water at your base or worksite, and medical records confirming your cancer diagnosis. A PFAS blood test can measure what is in your blood, but ATSDR states that such results “do not identify sources of exposure” and “do not indicate whether a current illness can be attributed to PFAS exposure,” so exposure and medical records usually carry more weight than a blood level on its own.
SourceATSDRClinical guidance
How many AFFF lawsuits are pending?
The JPML’s September 1, 2026 report lists 15,264 actions pending and 19,840 historical actions in AFFF MDL 2873, before Judge Richard M. Gergel in the District of South Carolina.
SourceJPML1 Sep 2026
Do the water-system settlements pay personal-injury claimants?
No. Those agreements resolve claims by public water systems, not personal-injury claims. The Tyco settlement, for example, defines its class as “Every Active Public Water System in the United States of America that has one or more Impacted Water Sources as of May 15, 2024.” A person with a cancer diagnosis is not a member of that class.
SourceSEC12 Apr 2024
What has IARC said about PFOA and PFOS?
In December 2023 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified PFOA as “carcinogenic to humans (Group 1)” and PFOS as “possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).” A hazard classification describes whether a substance can cause cancer, not whether it caused a particular person’s illness.
SourceIARC1 Dec 2023
How we sourced this page
Every figure on this page traces to a court docket, a federal agency or a company’s own filing. Water-system settlements and personal-injury claims are kept separate throughout, because they are separate.
- JPML — Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending, September 1, 2026 — 15,264 actions pending and 19,840 historical in MDL 2873.
- U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina — MDL 2873 — the court’s own docket and case management orders, before Judge Richard M. Gergel.
- 3M — settlement with public water suppliers — the company’s own announcement of the water-supplier agreement.
- Chemours, DuPont and Corteva — PFAS settlement with U.S. water systems — the 1.185 billion dollar water-system agreement.
- Tyco Fire Products — Settlement Agreement for Water Systems (SEC filing) — 750 million dollars, April 12, 2024, with the class defined as active public water systems.
- BASF Corporation — class settlement with U.S. public water systems.
- IARC — carcinogenicity of PFOA and PFOS — PFOA Group 1, PFOS Group 2B, December 1, 2023.
- ATSDR — PFAS information for clinicians — what a PFAS blood test can and cannot show.
- EPA — current understanding of the human health and environmental risks of PFAS.
