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They are man-made and placed in a dizzying array of products: food packaging, nonstick pans, clothing, furniture. You have almost definitely ingested some amount of them. (Most Americans have at least a small amount of these chemicals in their blood.)

But the chemicals move quickly through the earth and into water, where they persist indefinitely. Some scientists have deemed them “forever chemicals."

Over the last two decades, a growing body of research has shown that PFAS compounds meant to help us are likely hurting us.

The best data, based on a study of 69,000 people living near in a West Virginia DuPont plant, say exposure is associated with kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol and ulcerative colitis, among other problems.

So where does the military come in?

The real problem for humans, the science is telling us, is repeated exposure to PFAS.

In recent years, companies like DuPont have come under fire for leaching PFAS into water systems in places across the country: West Virginia, North Carolina, and more.

But the military has used PFAS extensively at bases around the nation and globe. For decades. Specifically, the chemicals are present in a firefighting foam it uses to extinguish fuel-based fires.