EPA Rejects PFAS Sludge Regulations Amid Ongoing Health Concerns

Sewage sludge—also called biosolids—is a by-product of municipal wastewater treatment that contains a mixture of human and industrial waste. Since the early 1990s the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has permitted its spread on cropland because it is rich in nutrients. However, the sludge can contain thousands of synthetic chemicals, including about 16,000 “forever chemicals” known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS do not break down naturally and have been linked to cancer, liver disease, kidney problems, high cholesterol, birth defects and weakened immunity. State regulators in Maine and Michigan have detected PFAS in every sludge sample tested, and a 2001 federal review reached the same conclusion. Current EPA rules require monitoring for only nine heavy metals, leaving PFAS largely unchecked.

The Guardian

In the final days of the Biden administration, the EPA issued a draft health-risk assessment stating that any PFAS concentration above 1 part per billion (ppb) raises cancer risk for farmers. The agency also claimed that sludge is applied to only about 1 % of U.S. farmland, though no federal or state agency tracks exact locations. The draft assessment focused on risks to farmers and omitted analysis of potential exposure through contaminated produce, dairy or meat.

The Guardian

Public-health advocates argue the EPA’s actions prioritize the waste-management industry, which profits from sludge application, over rural communities. The Southern Environmental Law Center highlighted calculations showing that children drinking milk from farms using sludge with 9.4 ppb of PFOA could face a cancer risk of more than 36 per 1,000 and a non-cancer risk over 319 times higher. In Maine, more than 100 farms—including organic operations—have been found to grow crops in soil still contaminated by decades-old sludge applications.

The Guardian

• “It’s shocking for the EPA to take a scientific assessment and simply throw it out,” — Laura Dumais, attorney, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)

The Guardian

• “puts polluters first and leaves farming families and rural communities to bear the consequences” — Jean Zhuang, senior attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

The Guardian

• “It’s shocking that the EPA is willing to throw all of these people under the bus and the EPA’s solution here is ‘do your own research – we’re not going to regulate anything, so if you think it’s dangerous then figure it out for yourself,’” — Laura Dumais

The Guardian

• “This administration is tossing aside a comprehensive, science-based assessment of the dangers of Pfas and replacing it with a thin, watered-down document that minimizes real harm,” — Jean Zhuang

The Guardian