JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Farm owners across the U.S., including in Missouri, struggle with significant economic losses as the toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminate their farmlands, diminish their crops, and compromise the health of their livestock. The Environmental Working Group estimates that nearly 20 million acres of farmland in the country could be polluted by these so-called “forever chemicals.” PFAS enters the environment, including farm ecosystems, mainly through wastewater and water sources. Considering that approximately 83% of the U.S. sampled waterways contain PFAS, the likelihood that even more farmland across the country is polluted by these dangerous chemicals is high.
Even though PFAS now affects more than 90% of Americans and the problem has been declared a national crisis, the contamination of farmlands remained a neglected aspect by federal policymakers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until recently, when more and more cases started to surface. Still, until today, no regulations guarantee that livestock and food produced on farms are free of dangerous PFAS chemicals.
The Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act reintroduced to the Senate in March 2023, could be a game changer for many farmers. The Act proposes establishing a $500 million federal grant program to relieve farmers impacted by PFAS contamination. Producers could get financial assistance for remediation, developing alternative ways of production, PFAS testing, and health monitoring of those living or working on the farms.
What are PFAS, and how do they pollute farmland?
PFAS are thousands of synthetic chemicals widely used by manufacturers in household items since the 1950s, such as food packaging, heat-resistant and non-stick products, water-repellant clothing, and many more. The product that contains the most PFAS, and thus is the main source of contamination in the country, is aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), a type of firefighting foam still commonly applied today against fuel fires, especially at military bases, airports, and civilian fire departments in Missouri and in most U.S. states.
PFAS have been called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely resistant and do not break down. With time, they build up in the bodies of people and animals regularly exposed to them. Farmers who work and live on contaminated land have shown very high levels of PFAS in their blood. This is something to take seriously, as PFAS are provenly linked to adverse health conditions, most worryingly cancers, mainly breast, ovarian, prostate, thyroid, and kidney cancers.
From polluted waste-, ground- and surface water, PFAS make their way into the soil and water sources of farms, ending up in crops and the bodies of livestock. PFAS can originate from certain products such as pesticides, but more commonly, they come from fertilizers known as biosolids. Biosolids, also known as sludge or residuals, are leftovers from wastewater processing and are used as fertilizers in nearly every state in the country. When wastewater sources have PFAS in them, these biosolids become concentrated sources of the chemicals. As biosolids are EPA-approved, states do not test them for PFAS, mainly due to a lack of appropriate regulations and the proper tools.
Farms in Missouri are also affected
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a voluntary PFAS sampling program for wastewater offered to interested municipal systems that want to identify potential PFAS sources and have data in place once EPA issues regulatory standards for PFAS chemicals in wastewater. The EPA issued its first-ever recommended limits for five PFAS in drinking water only in March 2023. The Agency recommended that the maximum contamination levels of PFOA and PFOS, the two known carcinogenic types of PFAS, should not exceed 4 parts per trillion (ppt), which means there is no safe exposure level to the “forever chemicals” in drinking water. In the case of wastewater, the situation cannot be much more promising.
Due to the lack of federal guidelines for biosolids, some states have introduced regulations or bans to tackle the contamination of farmlands, safeguard their inhabitants, and protect crops from PFAS. For example, following the shutting down of several dairy farms in Maine due to critically high PFAS levels found in their products, in 2022, the state legislature banned the use of biosolids altogether. In Texas, tests revealed incredibly high levels of PFAS in several farms’ soil, ponds, and water wells originating from biosolids. One of the ponds had 1,333 ppt of PFAS, which is incredibly high compared to the EPA’s reference limit of 4 ppt PFOA and PFOS for drinking water.
Currently, Missouri has no regulations regarding biosolids and PFAS affecting farmlands. Banning biosolids is not a popular solution among most states, as they are a cost-effective way to recycle waste. However, we urgently need to make some policy changes and take action. The Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS Act could be a solution. It would allow states to allocate funds to farmers and commercial farms where the soil and water contain levels of PFAS determined unsafe by the EPA. If voted to become law, the Act would be critical for the survival of impacted farms and the integrity of our food supply. Farmers exposed to the threat of PFAS need all the support they can get.
About the author
Stan Gottfredson is President and CEO at Atraxia Law, a paralegal firm in San Diego, California, assisting individuals affected by toxic exposure.
–Stan Gottfredson
Atraxia Law
The post Op-Ed: New Bill Promises Aid for Farmers Hit by PFAS appeared first on Morning Ag Clips.