To: EPA
I am writing to urge you to set enforceable federal standards for PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer, also known as biosolids.
PFAS in biosolids pose serious risks to human health and the environment. EPA’s 2025 draft risk assessment found that sludge spread on farms, gardens, and lawns with just 1 part per billion of two types of PFAS — PFOA or PFOS — posed health risks above the agency’s own threshold.
Yet, EPA’s draft guidance sets no enforceable limits, offering only voluntary recommendations that suppliers and users are free to ignore. Voluntary measures will not protect our families, farmers, home gardeners, or our food supply.
This lets industry profit from selling PFAS-contaminated sludge as fertilizer, with no requirement to warn users of what it contains — shifting responsibility for public safety from EPA to ordinary people.
I urge EPA to do its job and set real, enforceable limits that protect the American people from toxic PFAS in biosolids.
Copy our comments above or write your own, then click the button to submit.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public comments on its draft guidance for reducing risks from certain PFAS in biosolids. Copy our comments at left or write your own, then click here to submit by October 5, 2026,
Biosolids is a term used to describe sewage sludge used as fertilizer. Throughout the country, there is widespread opposition to EPA’s weak, voluntary draft guidance. Don’t let the voices of industry players dominate the conversation: join PEER and other Americans who are speaking up against EPA’s actions!
Why this Matters
PFAS are human-made chemicals linked to cancers, liver damage, and immune effects, and they are now found in water, soil, food, and blood samples worldwide.
They are particularly dangerous when found in biosolids used as fertilizers because they can contaminate water and food supplies and devastate farming families. Throughout the country, people are unwittingly using biosolids contaminated with PFAS to fertilize their farms, gardens, and lawns.
In fact, PEER is representing ranchers whose livelihoods have been destroyed by PFAS-contaminated biosolids.
EPA’s own 2025 draft risk assessment found that sewage sludge containing miniscule amounts of two types of PFAS — PFOA and PFOS — may pose health risks. And EPA has determined there is no safe level of either chemical in drinking water.
Despite this, EPA’s new guidance sets no actual limits on PFAS is sewage sludge used as fertilizer. Farmers and consumers are left in the dark about the risks sludge poses to their health and land, and the burden of staying safe shifts to the public while industry profits.
This is our chance to tell EPA that voluntary guidance isn’t enough. Only enforceable limits can protect farming families, our environment, and our food and water supplies from PFAS contamination.
Thank you for using your voice to protect our health and the environment from toxic PFAS.