PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Can End Up on Farms, Lawns and Gardens
Treated sewage sludge, also called biosolids, can get turned into fertilizer and spread on farms, gardens, lawns and playing fields.
When that waste contains PFAS “forever chemicals,” they can end up in soil, water and plants—and expose you and your neighbors to chemicals linked to cancer, fertility problems and other serious health risks.
The EPA is asking the public for comments on its draft guidance for PFAS in biosolids. But the guidance is only voluntary — it’s just a suggestion — and companies and utilities can simply choose not to follow it.
Tell EPA voluntary guidance isn’t enough.
A Suggestion Isn't a Safeguard
EPA’s draft guidance suggests ways to reduce exposure, but the recommendations are voluntary. It leaves consumers reading product labels and trying to avoid higher-risk uses, even though those labels are not required to disclose whether the biosolids contain PFAS. There is also no national requirement to test biosolids for PFAS or an enforceable federal PFAS limit.
We have the technology and techniques needed to prevent much of this contamination. EPA should require its use nationally.
In the video, former EPA scientist Betsy Southerland explains why EPA’s voluntary guidance is not enough.
Tell EPA: Stop PFAS Before It Reaches Our Farms, Yards, Food, and Water
If you agree with Betsy and other former EPA staff, add your voice to their call for EPA to take stronger action. The deadline is October 5.
Subject: Comment on EPA-HQ-OW-2026-2509: Protect Families and Communities from PFAS in Biosolids
Dear Administrator Zeldin:
I am submitting this comment on EPA’s Draft Guidance for Reducing Risk from PFOA and PFOS in Biosolids, Docket ID EPA-HQ-OW-2026-2509.
I agree with the former EPA scientists and experts who volunteer with the Environmental Protection Network that voluntary guidance is not enough to protect people from PFAS in biosolids.
PFAS-contaminated biosolids are being spread on farms and used in fertilizer and soil products applied to home gardens, lawns, parks, and playing fields. These forever chemicals do not simply disappear when sewage is treated. They can build up in soil, be taken up by plants, contaminate groundwater and streams, and expose children playing on treated land.
Families, farmers, schools, and communities should not have to become toxic-chemical experts to protect themselves. EPA should not finalize this guidance as written. It should establish enforceable limits that protect people from PFAS in biosolids and require industrial sources to reduce this pollution before it enters wastewater systems.
EPA’s own guidance reports that seven Michigan treatment plants reduced PFOS in biosolids by as much as 99 percent by getting industrial facilities to reduce pollution before sending wastewater into municipal sewers. This shows that we know how to prevent much of this contamination. EPA should build on that success nationally instead of leaving others to manage PFAS after the pollution has reached their land.
Please protect our farms, gardens, lawns, playing fields, food, and water from preventable PFAS contamination.
How Do Forever Chemicals End Up in Treated Sewage Sludge?
PFAS can enter wastewater from many sources. From there, they can move through treatment plants, collect in sewage sludge and eventually reach the land.
1
PFAS SOURCES
PFAS from factories, businesses and household products can enter water from drains, sewers and industrial discharge.
2
WASTE WATER
That wastewater goes to treatment plants, where some PFAS can collect in the sewage sludge left behind.
3
BIOSOLIDS
The sludge is treated and can be used as fertilizer or added to soil. In that form, it is called biosolids.
4
LAND
Biosolids can then be spread on farms, lawns, gardens and playing fields, carrying PFAS into soil and water.