The 2026 wildfire season has begun in Canada. Already by early June, an area greater than the size of London has burned.
With the country warming at twice the global average, wild blazes are only set to worsen. Yet the chemicals used to fight the flames have deadly effects of their own.
Firefighting foam contains cancer-linked chemicals called PFAS that linger long after the flames die down.
Luckily, Canadian company FireRein has already commercialised a safer alternative: the world’s first commercially available plant-based firefighting gel.
FireRein claims its gel outperforms conventional foams with just a fraction of their health and environmental impacts.
Here is how the biobased industry is changing the way we combat the flames.
When safety becomes toxic
Firefighters risk their lives to protect the public. Yet flame and smoke are only the most visible hazards they face.
The foam and protective clothing used in the profession are loaded with PFAS – a group of toxic chemicals that have been used across industries for decades.
PFAS contamination is one of the biggest health and environmental crises of our time. Exposure can disrupt organ function, reproduction and development in humans and animals.
Once PFAS is factored in, it’s easy to see why firefighting is known as one of the most carcinogenic occupations. Industry veterans are at significantly higher risk for multiple cancers than any other professional group.
These toxins harm the environment too. Once outdoors, they can accumulate in dangerous concentrations within rivers, lakes, and animal bodies. Because they are invisible, the chemicals are almost impossible to clean up. Being non-biodegradable, they can poison ecosystems for thousands of years.
Ending PFAS in firefighting
Firefighting foams for combatting chemical and petrol fires are heavily reliant on PFAS. This is because certain PFAS have the ability to repel oil, make a film, and suppress vapours – all vital in containing fires that originate from liquids.
PFAS has been used in foam formulations since the sixties and by now, the industry is steeped in the stuff. Study after study has found sky-high PFAS levels on clothing and in fire stations, where stored tools shed their toxic residue.
Despite their embeddedness in the industry, several governments are trying to ban their use.
Since late 2025, the EU has restricted their use in fire extinguishers, with more stringent regulations due to come into force. In the UK, too, lobby groups are pushing for similar laws after a spate of cancer diagnoses among firefighters.
Canada’s answer to toxic foam
Canada is another government that is moving towards restrictions on PFAS foams. Currently, it is consulting on legislation on phase-out.
Fortunately, Canada is well-placed to remove PFAS foams without impacting fire safety. This is because a native company already has a biobased solution to hand.
Ontario-based FireRein has developed the world’s first 100% plant-based firefighting gel. Known as Eco-Gel, this is a bio-based firefighting foam made from food grade ingredients like canola oil and cornstarch.
Eco-Gel was years in the making. Founded by firefighters in 2012, the company began with the express purpose of making firefighting products that were safer for health and the environment.
The R&D journey consisted of collaborations with academic scientists and support from the federal government.
This federal support was critical in product testing and commercialisation. FireRein has been developing a way to drop its gel from military aircraft to combat large-scale fires.
Making water stick
The formula is an ingenious piece of chemical engineering. Designed as a drop-in additive, Eco-Gel is an additive that makes ordinary water into “sticky”, capable of forming an airtight mat that starves fires of oxygen. So long as the mixture of Eco-Gel and Water remains under pressure inside firefighting equipment, it remains liquid.
Once the mixture comes to a standstill, it rapidly solidifies. Within 15 seconds, the water forms a viscous coating that clings to surfaces and extinguishes the flame. This ability to solidify and stick to one area is part of Eco-Gel’s eco-friendly appeal, limiting its ability to leach away and contaminate the environment with firewater runoff.
Eco-Gel even has uses beyond extinguishing fires. It can also act as a fire retardant for forest, grassland and scrubland to prevent wildfire spread.
Commercially viable cleantech
Eco-Gel can be used in many different environments – a plus for fire services that may operate in remote regions. The chemical is capable of forming a sticky fire-fighting mat with either freshwater, seawater or grey water.
It’s also a one-stop replacement for conventional foams. Firefighting foams fall into one of two categories: those designed to combat fires sparked by wood, vegetation, or plastic and those designed to combat fuel and chemical-based fires. Eco-Gel is effective as a substitute for both.
Eco-Gel’s technical versatility speaks to its success as a commercial product. Switching to new cleantech becomes more attractive to industry when the product is multi-use. The prospect of having to toggle between different chemicals for different applications raises the costs of substitution, no matter the sustainability benefits.
FireRein is looking to further increase the commercial viability of the product. One avenue it’s looking into is sourcing inputs straight from the supplier. Buying more directly would bring down production costs and potentially push the product into wider commercial use.
Canadian pride
There’s more than a touch of national pride behind Canada’s biobased foam innovation. The company is quick to emphasise that around 75% of the starches and vegetable oils inside its Eco-Gel are sourced from Canadian-grown crops.
This economic nationalism chimes with the current geopolitical context. As Canada-US relations deteriorate, Canada is looking to protect home industries by bolstering ties with its other trading partners.
One candidate for closer relations is the EU, where regulations are spurring a whole new market for PFAS-free foams.
The EU is a clear opportunity for Canadian cleantech exports like Eco-Gel. After 2035, an EU exemption on PFAS foam use at high-risk chemical sites will lapse. At this point, the EU market will have to seek toxin-free products.
Geopolitical fragmentation is giving added incentive for Canada and the EU to cooperate on anti-PFAS regulation and biobased alternatives.
On top of offering the tools to tackle health and environmental issues, new markets for cleantech can offer new economic opportunities as global trading and political relations shift.
Chitosan fire foam
Elsewhere in the world, researchers are working on using other biobased ingredients to develop nature-safe fire foams.
Chinese researchers at Northeastern Forestry University developed and tested a hydrogel suitable for use in forest fires, where foams should biodegrade quickly into environmentally safe compounds.
The hydrogel formula contains chitosan and cellulose – both biobased ingredients that are abundant in nature. Chitosan is non-toxic, biodegradable, and stable. It also forms gels that swell on contact with water – a valuable property in a fire-fighting chemicals
The formula resembles Eco-Gel in the way it transitions from a liquid state to a solid mass. However, the hydrogel alters based on temperature sensitivity. It is liquid at ambient temperature but when it comes into contact with high temperatures, it transforms into a solid barrier that is able to smother fires.
Biobased fire prevention
Fire-fighting foams are just one part of the fire-fighting tool kit. A preventative approach to fire safety must also draw on fire-retardants – chemicals that prevent fires or slow their spread.
Fire retardants are found well beyond the fire fighting industry, in textiles, building insulation, packaging, and electronics, often in the form of thin coatings that stop the material from easily combusting.
Like firefighting foam, these fire retardants are made from toxic PFAS chemicals. The fact that they are present in almost every consumer product segment makes them a huge public health risk.
Synthetic flame retardants can also undermine product claims to environmental sustainability. An otherwise 100% biobased, biodegradable plastic may be coated in a non-biodegradable, PFAS-loaded chemical. Flame retardants are often the stubborn final barrier to making a product safer for the environment.
Scientists and industry are trying to seek alternatives. A December 2025 article in Nature revealed how chitosan can enhance the fire-resistance of cotton textiles. Another could be plant compounds like lignins and tannins, a pathway being explored under the EU’s BIOSAFIRE programme.
Still, there are many technical hurdles to overcome before biobased flame retardants hit the market. For one, each material burns differently. There is no one-size-fits all when it comes to flame-retardant chemicals.
Secondly, flame retardant coatings can often affect the properties and performance of the material that they are applied to. Manufacturers must balance between maximising flame retardance, retaining product performance in the underlying material, and ensuring overall sustainability.
While the search for biobased flame retardants continues, FireRein’s firefighting additive is already poised to disrupt the way we combat fires.
No chemicals used at scale are totally impact free – plant-based formulas are not an exception. Yet Eco-Gel’s biobased compounds lower the risks compared to traditional formulations.
Fire safety begins with non-toxic equipment that protects workers, wildlife, and the public alike. Biobased alternatives to PFAS foams are paving the way for an industry that is safer all round.
