Sep 17, 2024
Environmentalists and farmers are worried about the longtime use of sewage from city landfills as fertilizer for US farmland. They're saying the sewage contains harmful amounts of so-called “forever chemicals.” And they say these chemicals are harming livestock and seeping into crops.
Some states have ended the practice on farms. Meanwhile, lawsuits have been filed against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The lawsuits accuse the EPA of failing to safely police these chemicals that may be toxic. They're known as PFAs. They’re also known as “forever chemicals.” This is because of their lifespan. They can take many years to break down and vanish.
The New York Times said that the wide scale of farmland tainted by PFAs is only starting to become known. PFAs "are used in everything from microwave popcorn bags and firefighting gear to nonstick pans and stain-resistant carpets," the Times said.
The EPA has long sanctioned the use of sludge to be used as fertilizer. Sludge comes from home and factory sewage. It's rich in nutrients that help fertilize farmland. And using it for farming lessens the levels of sludge in urban landfills. But a growing body of research is finding that this sewage is replete with PFAs.
Michigan has shut down one farm where testing showed very high levels of PFAs. In Texas, ranchers blamed the deaths of cattle and horses on PFAs.
Maine, in 2022, was the first state to ban the spread of this sludge on farms. It was also the first state to test farmland for PFAs. Maine found high PFA amounts on at least 68 of over 100 farms tested so far.
Looking into PFAs is like prying open Pandora’s box, Nancy McBrady, deputy commissioner of Maine’s Department of Agriculture, told the Times.
Reflect: Why is it important to make sure that the things we use on farms, like fertilizers, are safe for both the environment and the food we eat?
Gif of drain pipe near farmland from GIPHY.
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