The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is promoting a commonly used commercial fertilizer despite being told more than 20 years ago that its key ingredients contained high levels of so-called “permanent chemicals.” A New York Times investigation on Friday revealed that this continues to be the case.
The Times’ Yuko Tabuchi reviewed thousands of pages of decades-old documents and found that scientists at the chemical giant 3M discovered high concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in U.S. sewage in the early 2000s. ) was discovered. Sewage sludge is widely used as agricultural fertilizer. PFAS are called eternal chemicals because they do not biodegrade and do not accumulate in the environment or the human body. It has countless uses, from nonstick cookware and waterproof clothing to firefighting foam and insecticides.
3M officials, who had already conducted research linking PFAS to cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses, reported their findings to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2003.
“EPA continues to promote sewage sludge as fertilizer and does not require testing for PFAS.”
However, as Tabuchi pointed out, “Despite contamination concerns raised by whistleblowers, academics, state officials, and years of internal Environmental Protection Agency studies, the Environmental Protection Agency It continues to be promoted as a fertilizer and does not require testing for PFAS.
According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS are associated with kidney and testicular cancer, low birth weight in infants, suppressed immune function, and other adverse health effects. They are present in the blood of approximately 99% of people worldwide. EPA data shows that PFAS are present in the drinking water of tens of millions of Americans.
Tabuchi said EPA experts raised concerns about PFAS as far back as the 1990s, but their warnings were ignored.
The Times investigation follows a report earlier this month led by Prism’s Rebecca Berglowski showing that the EPA and state officials in New Jersey have known about PFAS-contaminated water for nearly two decades.
Tabuchi pointed out that “this country is beginning to realize the consequences” of the widespread use of PFAS. However, only one state, Maine, has begun systematic testing for PFAS on farms. It also banned the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer for fields.
At the federal level, the Biden administration released its first “PFAS Strategic Roadmap” in 2021, designating permanent chemicals as “urgent public health and environmental concerns.” Earlier this year, the EPA finalized new Superfund regulations aimed at “helping polluters pay for cleanup costs” across the United States.
But the chemical industry is fighting efforts to address PFAS, including through the use of research that experts say is biased. Experts also say the incoming administration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump could roll back Biden-era regulations, strip agency experts of their authority and give political appointees the power to make important regulatory decisions. Then he warns you.
Even under the Biden administration, the EPA has maintained that it cannot be sued for taking inadequate steps to protect the public from PFAS contamination.
In June, the Public Employee for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) sued a group of farmers, ranchers, and green organizations for failing in their non-discretionary duty to identify and regulate toxic pollutants in sewage sludge used as fertilizer. and sued the EPA. In September, the EPA asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that it had complete discretion in identifying and listing pollutants.
“EPA appears to have lost any sense of its legal and moral obligation to protect public health,” attorney and former EPA scientist Kyla Bennett said at the time. “Under the plain language of the Clean Water Act, EPA has a duty to identify and regulate substances that pose a threat to human health and the environment, not just to issue reports on them.”
