WASHINGTON – Today the Environmental Protection Agency released a long-awaited study finding millions of U.S. farm acres are likely contaminated from the use of sludge containing the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
Sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, often contains PFAS from unregulated industrial discharges. When the sludge is applied as fertilizer, the forever chemicals can contaminate food and feed crops, farm animals and irrigation water, posing serious risks to the food supply. Some farmers have had to euthanize animals due to unsafe PFAS levels.
The following is a statement from David Andrews, Ph.D., acting chief science officer at the Environmental Working Group, on the EPA’s “Risk Assessment of PFAS in Biosolids.”
Land application of PFAS contaminated sewage sludge increases the risk of human health harm by contaminating milk, eggs, crops and animals and nearby fish and water according to EPA’s new assessment.
Congress must ensure these farmers aren’t burdened with the costs of fixing this problem – that responsibility should ultimately rest with the polluters.
Organic products should be a safer bet for consumers concerned about PFAS in their food but even organic farms could be contaminated, as previous owners might have used tainted sludge on their land. Farmers of organics may not use sludge or PFAS pesticides.
The Food and Drug Administration must swiftly set limits for PFAS in food, as other nations have already done.
Homeowners should avoid using compost from wastewater utilities, which could be another source of PFAS exposure.
To protect public health and restore trust in our food supply, we need a comprehensive strategy to reduce public exposure to this entire family of chemicals from limits on industrial discharges of PFAS to a ban on all non-essential uses of these ‘forever chemicals.’
The following is a statement from Jared Hayes, EWG senior policy analyst.
The EPA’s risk assessment underscores the devastating public health consequences caused by fertilizing food and feed crops with PFAS-contaminated sludge, especially for those living on or near farms. We’ve known that the use of this sludge as a fertilizer pollutes our food, increasing our risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other serious health concerns.
Today’s findings confirm that diet, including the plants we eat and feed to animals, and the animal products we eat, is the most significant source of forever chemicals exposure for most people. More than 70 million acres of farmland are likely contaminated with toxic PFAS from the application of sludge, giving farmers even more of an urgent need for funding to clean up their fields.
The first step in addressing this crisis is clear: State leaders must immediately ban farmers’ application of PFAS-laden sludge to food and feed crops.
State and federal authorities must also address the core of the PFAS problem. First they must stop polluters’ discharges of forever chemicals waste into wastewater treatment plants. They must also block the unnecessary use of these toxic substances in everyday household products.
State and federal leaders must quickly require polluters to treat PFAS waste themselves rather than send contaminated waste waters to municipal treatment plants.
And the EPA should immediately propose limits on PFAS discharges, as President Joe Biden has pledged.
