Chemicals in Sewage Sludge Fertilizers Pose Cancer Risk, EPA Says

Harmful chemicals present in sewage sludge spread on pastures Using land as fertilizer causes cancer, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. The risk is higher among people who regularly consume milk, beef and other products from farms where the virus is spreading. The risk is “several orders of magnitude” higher than what it considers acceptable, the agency said.

When cities treat wastewater, they separate the liquids from the solids and treat the liquid. Solids must be removed and can form nutrient-rich sludge, often spread across agricultural fields. The agency now says these solids often contain toxic, long-lasting PFAS that treatment plants cannot effectively remove.

When people eat or drink foods containing these “permanent” chemicals, the compounds build up in the body and can cause kidney, prostate, and testicular cancer. They also harm the child’s immune system and development.

Most at risk are people who drink a liter of milk per day from dairy cows raised on pasture with biosolids, eat one or two servings of fish per week from a lake contaminated by runoff, or drink water loaded with PFAS. the draft risk assessment said. The EPA looked at farmers and those living nearby who regularly consumed these products over the years – not the general public at large.

Organic farms are not allowed to use the sludge, so the results could reassure consumers who buy organic, grass-fed beef, although farms that have switched to organic may have applied earlier.

The federal government has the authority to regulate harmful substances found in sewage sludge. Years ago, limits were set for certain metals. But it does not regulate PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

“This draft assessment provides important information to help inform future actions by federal and state agencies as well as steps that wastewater treatment systems, farmers and other stakeholders can take to protect people from exposure to PFAS, while ensuring that American industry continues to feed and power our nation. said Acting EPA Administrator Jane Nishida in a statement.

President-elect Donald Trump named Lee Zeldin to run the EPA. When Trump announced the choice, he said Zeldin would “ensure fair and timely deregulatory decisions” while keeping water and air clean.

Sewage sludge has been used as fertilizer for many years. Wastewater treatment plants produce millions of tons of it, and tens of millions of acres of farmland have been permitted to use it, according to a group that has compiled national data. The EPA said this sludge is applied to less than 1 percent of fertilized agricultural acreage each year.

PFAS chemicals have been used in nonstick pans, firefighting foam, and other widely used products. The two most common types of PFAS, those assessed by the agency, are no longer manufactured in the United States, but are still found in the environment and wastewater. Paper and textile manufacturers have released PFAS into the environment.

The risk may be higher for some farmers than the EPA assessment indicates. Many farms have much higher concentrations of PFAS than the study assumed. As the amount of PFAS increases, so does the health threat. And the EPA assumed that people were not exposed to PFAS from other sources when estimating risks, even though many people are.

Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, said the assessment finally makes official what regulators, polluters and utility operators have known for decades: that Fertilizers contaminated with PFAS were found in food and animal products. He called for stricter rules regarding its on-farm use and said the EPA should limit the amount of PFAS that manufacturers can discharge into waterways.

“There is no doubt that sending PFAS waste to wastewater treatment plants and then using that sludge as fertilizer was wrong. The only question is whether we will continue to make the same mistake,” Faber said.

The Biden administration has taken several steps to reduce PFAS levels in the environment including drafting a rule to significantly reduce PFAS in drinking water.

A small number of states, including Maine and Connecticut, have limited or banned the use of PFAS-contaminated fertilizers made from wastewater.

The EPA said officials are monitoring the food supply to protect people from ongoing exposure to chemicals.

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