This commentary was originally published in the Fall 2024 edition of PEEReview.
PEER is engaged in several efforts to prevent toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” from contaminating our food chain. Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being more of a hindrance than a help. Two prime examples are EPA’s recalcitrance on addressing PFAS in pesticides and in fertilizers made from sewage sludge.
Pesticides
PFAS are increasingly added to U.S. pesticide products, contaminating waterways and posing threats to human health, according to a new peer-reviewed study. These findings contradict prior EPA assurances that pesticides are PFAS-free.
The study, “Forever Pesticides: A Growing Source of PFAS Contamination in the Environment,” published in Environmental Health Perspectives is the first comprehensive review of how PFAS are introduced into pesticides used on crops ranging from corn to cauliflower and around homes in pet flea collars and insect sprays.
Some PFAS leach into pesticides from fluorinated storage containers. Others are intentionally added to increase the stability of ingredients to improve their ability to kill target organisms.
“EPA keeps insisting that PFAS in pesticides is not a concern despite ample and mounting evidence to the contrary,” stated PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with EPA and a study co-author. “Spraying pesticides with PFAS will poison our food supply and our homes.”
PEER is pursuing an administrative complaint to force EPA to drop these false assurances as part of our larger effort to fix the current broken pesticide regulatory framework.
Because these pesticides are applied to tens of millions of farm fields across the country and used by people in their homes regularly, getting PFAS out of pesticides is a top priority for PEER.
Bio-Sludge Fertilizers
EPA is seeking to dismiss a PEER-led lawsuit contending that the agency cannot be sued for failing to protect public health and the environment from toxic PFAS in sewage sludge-based fertilizer. Despite increasing evidence and mounting horror stories, EPA has yet to restrict PFAS from the sewage-based fertilizer applied to millions of acres of land every year.
The Clean Water Act requires EPA to identify all pollutants in sewage sludge in concentrations that could harm people’s health or the environment and to regulate them by imposing safeguards and numerical limits. To reflect the latest science and capture emerging threats, every two years EPA must review available information and identify and regulate any additional pollutants that meet certain criteria.
In the nearly 40 years since that mandate, EPA has listed hundreds of pollutants in sewage sludge, including at least 10 PFAS, in its biennial reviews, yet has not identified a single substance to regulate since 1993. EPA claims that no one can sue it as long as it issues these reports, no matter how much information plaintiffs might present about a pollutant’s health and environmental risks.
“EPA’s lack of action is harming farmers throughout the country,” declared PEER Staff Counsel Laura Dumais. “Under the plain language of the Clean Water Act, EPA has a clear duty to identify and regulate substances that threaten human health and the environment – not just to issue a report about it.”
Laura Dumais is PEER’s staff counsel. Her practice has included lawsuits under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
