Federal inaction on PFAS puts our food supply at risk

PFAS might be on tonight’s dinner menu.

From kale and blueberries to seafood, meat, and even milk and beer, trace amounts of dangerous PFAS chemicals are creeping into our food and beverages. But despite a growing body of evidence detailing the harms PFAS may present, federal regulators are stepping back.

In a blow to public health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just rejected a petition to establish mandatory safety limits on PFAS in food, leaving the nation’s food supply unmonitored for dangerous PFAS “forever chemicals”.

What are PFAS? Why are they dangerous?

PFAS “forever chemicals” are a group of roughly 15,000 human-made synthetic compounds. For decades, manufacturers have relied on them to give raincoats, hiking boots, nonstick pans and other consumer products their liquid-repellent properties.

But while they’re excellent at repelling liquid, they may also dangerous to people. These “forever chemicals” earn their nickname from their virtually indestructible chemical bond, which prevents them from breaking down naturally and allows them to linger in the environment for thousands of years.

They can also build up inside us. While research is still emerging, some studies have linked PFAS to kidney disease, high cholesterol, cancer, birth defects and compromised immune systems. In children, the potential harms are also concerning. Exposure to PFAS may result in reduced cognitive, motor and language development in infancy and increased behavioral issues such as hyperactivity in childhood.

How are PFAS entering our food supply?

When companies manufacture products that contain PFAS, they may directly or indirectly discharge these chemicals into the environment. And because PFAS are virtually indestructible, they persist in water and soil, polluting our environment for centuries or longer.

From farmland to fork, PFAS is infiltrating our food supply through four key routes:

1. Sewage sludge used as farm fertilizer

One of the most direct ways that PFAS enters our food supply is through agriculture practices. Municipal wastewater treatment plants collect industrial and household runoff and process it into nutrient-rich solids known as sewage sludge. But wastewater facilities aren’t equipped to filter out PFAS so, when this sludge is routinely sold or given to farms to be sprayed onto fields as fertilizer, PFAS contaminates soil and crops.

2. PFAS-laden pesticides and water

PFAS compounds are also used in agricultural pesticides to help the chemicals disperse or be absorbed. In a double whammy for crops, irrigation water may also be drawn from PFAS-contaminated groundwater.

3. Livestock and animal products

Farm animals can ingest PFAS by drinking PFAS-contaminated water and by grazing on feed grown in PFAS-polluted soil. These chemicals may accumulate in the animal’s tissues over time, and we may end up ingesting the PFAS that accumulated inside them when we consume beef, pork, poultry, milk or cheese.

4. Seafood and shellfish

Because PFAS persist in water, runoff carrying PFAS can make its way into freshwater lakes, rivers, and coastal ocean waters. Freshwater fish and shellfish can absorb these chemicals from polluted aquatic habitats, leading to PFAS in seafood. And because PFAS chemicals accumulate in animal tissues over time, their concentration may intensify as they move up the food chain.

What’s the federal government doing to prevent PFAS from contaminating our food?

The simple answer? Not nearly enough.

While there was hope that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy would address PFAS in our food supply, the FDA’s recent refusal to set formal limits on PFAS in food is a setback for the millions of Americans who are concerned about the safety of what they eat.

Take action on PFAS contamination in our food

Since federal agencies are failing to protect our food from PFAS, we’re urging governors in all 50 states to take the first step in addressing PFAS contamination by banning the spread of PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge as fertilizer on agricultural fields.