The politics of PFAS

PFAS (highly fluorinated “forever” chemicals) are in  the news practically every day.  PFAS Central, a project of Green Science Policy, tracks this news.

I do too to a lesser extent.  But I sure noticed this one in the New York Times: Their Fertilizer Poisons Farmland. Now, They Want Protection From Lawsuits.

The company, Synagro, sells farmers treated sludge from factories and homes to use as fertilizer. But that fertilizer, also known as biosolids, can contain harmful “forever chemicals” known as PFAS linked to serious health problems including cancer and birth defects.

Farmers are starting to find the chemicals contaminating their land, water, crops and livestock. Just this year, two common types of PFAS were declared hazardous substances by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Superfund law.

Now, Synagro is part of a major effort to lobby Congress to limit the ability of farmers and others to sue to clean up fields polluted by the sludge fertilizer, according to lobbying records and interviews with people familiar with the strategy. The chairman of one of the lobbying groups is Synagro’s chief executive.

Even as PFAS has turned up in wastewater, the government has continued to promote the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer.

Also from the New York Times: What We Know (and Don’t Know) About ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Food

exposure can increase the risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers. The chemicals have also been linked to low birth weight, birth defects and developmental delays in children, as well as thyroid disease and high cholesterol.

This year, the Environmental Protection Agency said there’s no safe level of PFAS exposure for humans and imposed limits on some PFAS in drinking water.

Facts

• Nearly all Americans carry PFAS in their bloodstream.
• As many as 200 million Americans are exposed to PFAS through tap water.
• Consumer Reports detects PFAS in some milk

The politics: from Civil Eats: Why Are Pesticide Companies Fighting State Laws to Address PFAS? In Maine, Maryland, and beyond, the industry is using a well-worn playbook to slow legislators’ attempts to get forever chemicals out of food and water.

• CropLife America and RISE hire local lobbyists, some of whom also head up farmer organizations and represent local farmers in comments, hearings, and meetings with legislators.
• RISE also deploys a “grassroots network” of individuals who work in and with pesticide companies—e.g., retailers, golf courses, and landscapers—to contact their state lawmakers using tested “key” messages and encourages them to emphasize their personal experiences as citizens.
• Beyond PFAS, when state lawmakers introduce bills to restrict pesticide use in other ways, CropLife America and RISE often utilize a similar playbook to influence legislation.

As for getting rid of PFAS: Groundbreaking study shows unaffordable costs of PFAS cleanup from wastewater

A new report published by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) finds that technologies and expenses needed to remove and destroy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from certain wastewater streams across Minnesota would cost between $14 and $28 billion over 20 years.

Comment: We had best get started on that now.  And stop making more PFAS products.  Also, stop exposure:

The main ways people can be exposed to PFAS include:

Things we can’t control, really:

• Drinking contaminated municipal or private well water.
• Eating fish with high levels of PFAS.
• Eating food grown or raised near places that used or made PFAS.

These we can control to some extent:

• Eating food packaged in material made with PFAS.
• Swallowing contaminated soil or dust.
• Using some consumer products, such as ski wax, nonstick cookware, and stain and water repellant sprays for fabrics.

Obviously this is a tough one demanding tough regulations and forcing polluters to pay.