SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — An Illinois House Democrat hopes to ban companies from manufacturing, selling, and distributing firefighting protective gear that contain forever chemicals . It's a personal fight for Rep. Mike Kelly (D-Chicago), who knows many of his brothers and sisters on the front lines are dying due to the standard gear .

Rep. Mike Kelly (D-Chicago) presented legislation during a House Police & Fire Committee on March 6, 2025.

State lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 to eliminate a type of firefighting foam that contained toxic chemicals. That law established the PFAS disposal program and created civil penalties for failure to comply with the ban.

" House Bill 2409 builds upon the act by addressing concerns regarding the PPE and intends to eliminate the sale of turnout gear containing PFAS and improve long-term health risks that firefighters face," Kelly said.

This comes as nearly 75% of recent firefighter deaths have been linked to occupational cancer . The Associated Firefighters of Illinois told the House Police & Fire Committee Thursday that firefighters are forced to use gear that offers limited protection and contains toxins like forever chemicals.

"We encounter carcinogens and toxic chemicals on a daily basis," said AFFI President Chuck Sullivan. "But up until about eight or ten years ago, little did we know that the bunker gear we're wearing contains extremely high levels of forever chemicals. We literally put this gear on and take it off multiple times during our shifts."

This plan would require companies selling protective equipment containing PFAS to provide written notice of why the chemicals are added to the gear by the end of this year. The state could then ban people from selling any PPE containing forever chemicals to fire departments starting January 1, 2027.

Illinois manufacturers support the intent of the bill, but they are currently opposed to the change.

"Some of those PPE devices, such as respirators and components within respirators, may not have readily available alternatives," said Donovan Griffith, government affairs director for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. "So, we just need to make sure that we're putting a timeline that there's alternatives that can be in place before we ban this type of equipment."

Griffith suggested lawmakers should delay the ban until 2032 to follow a similar law in Minnesota. However, Democrats and Republicans strongly opposed that idea.

"I understand the timeline, but I think we're giving way too much weight to the timeline compared to firefighters' lives," said Rep. Dennis Tipsword (R-Metamora).

House Bill 2409 passed unanimously out of the House Police & Fire Committee. The legislation now moves to the House floor for further consideration.

"Firefighters need protective gear that will shield them from these hazards of their job and not expose them to even more risks," said AFFI Northern District Legislative Representative Steve Shetsky. "The research and development of existing protective gear has historically been funded by the corporate interests that secured patents for, manufacture, and sell the exact same gear."

Representatives could vote on the proposal as soon as Tuesday.