In a First, the E.P.A. Warns of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Sludge Fertilizer. (New York Times)
Excerpt from this New York Times story:
For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday warned that “forever chemicals” present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks.
In an extensive study the agency said that, while the general food supply isn’t threatened, the risk from contaminated fertilizer could in some cases exceed the E.P.A.’s safety thresholds “sometimes by several orders of magnitude.”
A growing body of research has shown that the sludge can be contaminated with manmade chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are used widely in everyday items like nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. The chemicals, which are linked to a range of illnesses including an increased risk of cancer, do not break down in the environment, and, when tainted sludge is used as fertilizer on farmland, it can contaminate the soil, groundwater, crops and livestock.
Last year, The New York Times reported that 3M, which for decades has manufactured PFAS, found as early as 2000 that the chemicals were turning up in sludge samples from municipal wastewater plants across the country. In 2003, 3M told E.P.A. of its findings.
The E.P.A. has for decades encouraged the use of sludge from treated wastewater as inexpensive fertilizer with no limits on how much PFAS it can contain. But the agency’s new draft risk assessment sets a potential new course. If finalized, it could mark what could be the first step toward regulating PFAS in the sludge used as fertilizer, which the industry calls biosolids. The agency currently regulates certain heavy metals and pathogens in sewage sludge used as fertilizer, but not PFAS.
Add to this story the following excerpt from the Chicago Tribune from its article entitled, "EPA warns of toxic forever chemicals in sewage sludge used on farmland, including thousands of acres near the Chicago area."
Farmers who use sewage sludge as fertilizer and their neighbors face higher risks of cancer and other diseases, according to a new federal analysis that pins the blame on toxic forever chemicals.
The findings are particularly relevant for northeast Illinois, where more than 777,000 tons of sludge from Chicago and Cook County have been spread on farmland during the past eight years — in many cases near residential areas.
Only the Greater Los Angeles area distributed more sludge to farmers during the same period.
Officials at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago have known their sludge fertilizer is contaminated with forever chemicals since at least 2011, the Chicago Tribune reported in a 2022 investigation.
