Experts say sewage sludge used as fertilizer around the US could contaminate crops with potentially harmful chemicals known as PFAS.
In this Thursday Aug. 15, 2019 photo, dairy farmer Fred Stone pauses while working in the milking room at his farm in Arundel, Maine. Fred Stone and his wife Laura, whose dairy farm is contaminated by toxic chemicals known collectively as PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals," have high PFAS levels in their blood.
“I feel bad for them,” said Michael Wurts, superintendent of the waste treatment plant, who ruefully recalls promoting sludge as an agricultural soil additive to growers in the community. “The city didn’t do anything malicious. We had no clue this was going on.” “It’s been devastating. We kind of get treated like we are criminals,” said Stoneridge Farm’s Fred Stone, whose blood has also tested high for PFAS from what he believes was drinking contaminated water and milk over the years.
“We don’t have a lot of data but the data we have suggests it’s a problem,” Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said at a recent conference in Boston. “We are finding that there are elevated levels of different PFAS in biosolids. We clearly need more research in this area.”
Studies going back almost two decades found PFAS in sludge, primarily from industrial wastewater that flows to municipal treatment facilities. Residential sewage is another source — from carpets, clothes and other household items containing PFAS. The grease- and water-resistant compounds, known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t degrade naturally and are believed capable of lingering indefinitely in the environment, also are found in firefighting foam used at military bases and airports.
“We are studying the potential pathways by which PFAS are getting into biosolids and we are researching alternative methods for removing or destroying PFAS in biosolids if analysis indicates that detected levels are of risk and need reduction,” the agency told The Associated Press in a statement. Several states are examining sewage sludge for PFAS contamination and assessing potential dangers. Maine has enacted a nonbinding advisory level for PFAS in sludge and New Hampshire is working with the U.S. Geological Survey on a soil study whose results will help them set a standard.
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