PFAS in fertilizer puts wildlife, hunting and fishing areas at risk

The trouble with PFAS – also called “forever chemicals” – is that they don’t break down in the environment. Once these substances are out in the wild, they stick around.

In this way, even small spills or releases of PFAS add up over time into big problems. A growing concern and source of PFAS in the environment is PFAS contamination in fertilizer sprayed on agricultural fields. Every time sludge containing PFAS is applied to a farmer’s fields, more PFAS enters the surrounding environment – to stay.

Agricultural areas often connect with wild places – including hunting areas and waterways used for fishing. Contamination that starts with the way we farm can go on to impact every corner of the natural environment.

“Do Not Eat” advisories on fish and game in New Mexico, Maine, and Michigan.

Because of their prevalence and persistence, some level of PFAS chemicals is known to be found in the blood of people and animals globally.

In some locations, researchers and health officials have discovered truly alarming quantities of PFAS in local wildlife.

For example, record-breaking levels of PFAS were found in the animals in and around Holloman Lake in southern New Mexico. According to one study, “just one gram of duck meat from Holloman Lake exceeded the lifetime exposure limit [of PFAS] recommended for humans,” 

Hunters in northern Michigan and central Maine were also recently advised not to eat deer or turkey contaminated with PFAS. Parts of these states have been detecting PFAS contamination in these areas since at least 2021.

PFAS that enters the soil can get washed into rivers and lakes, which allow it to spread even farther and contaminate fish. Eating a single serving of freshwater fish from areas impacted by PFAS could be the equivalent of drinking water contaminated with high levels of PFAS for an entire month.

How does PFAS get into wild places and animals?

PFAS are a diverse class of chemicals used for lots of different applications. They have historically been found in firefighting foam, and they’re used to make all kinds of consumer products water-resistant or non-stick, like outerwear and pots and pans.

The industries that create and use PFAS in their products often discharge the chemicals into our nation’s sewer system. That — plus PFAS in the wastewater from our own homes — means the chemicals end up at wastewater treatment plants.

Some of these sources of PFAS have been banned in efforts to get “forever chemical” contamination under control. PFAS is no longer used in firefighting foam, and it’s becoming more common to see PFAS-free labeling on common household products. 

But because these chemicals are persistent, even the PFAS we were using years or decades ago can still pose an ongoing threat to the environment.

And there are sources of PFAS that are still ongoing. The federal government has been encouraging farmers to use treated sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants as fertilizer for decades.

The PFAS in contaminated sludge on farms can make its way into the water and soil, where it never breaks down. And once PFAS is in an ecosystem, it bioaccumulates. That means the concentration of PFAS in animals can increase as you get higher up the food chain.

PFAS in food and drink may pose serious health risks to humans.

Whether we encounter PFAS in our drinking water, in crops grown on contaminated fields, or in meat from game in areas impacted by PFAS, these chemicals have the potential to harm us.

The full impact of PFAS on human health is not known, but researchers have linked PFAS exposure to a variety of health impacts including some types of cancers, disruption to our endocrine system, impaired immunity, reproductive issues, and more.

To protect our health, we need to reduce the number of ways PFAS is entering our environment to contaminate habitat, wildlife, and water.

Take action to get toxic PFAS off our farms.

When tainted sludge fertilizer is applied to a field, the contamination can last for decades. This is a problem that has the potential to impact generations — that’s why we have to act fast.

Tell the EPA: The unregulated use of PFAS-laced sludge fertilizer on farms must be stopped — for the sake of our health and the health of generations of Americans to come.