Thank you.
Yes. My husband, while serving in the navy, was exposed to toxic chemicals. He was also exposed to asbestos on some of the older ships he served on. AFFF was one of the chemicals they used in firefighting exercises. To put it into context, my husband was a marine engineer—or a “stoker”, as they called them—and quite often had to deal with toxic chemicals in the course of his duties. From my understanding from my husband, when they used, for example, the AFFF, which we now know is cancer-causing—it's renowned for it—it also leached into groundwater and poisoned it. When he was serving, they didn't use protective gear. They used it for a variety of things in the course of their duties, as I mentioned—for firefighting exercises and so forth—so he was exposed to very many chemicals, yes.
Cancer doesn't run in his family either, so it was quite shocking. When he was diagnosed, we were very surprised. It was unexpected. Just in talking to him and doing a bit of research...especially since many of his colleagues he served with also passed away from cancer. He did use a lot of chemicals in the course of his duties. Therefore, yes, it was from duty.