May 2021

After announcing that the town’s water supply contained elevated levels of the toxic chemicals known as PFAS, selectmen at a recent virtual meeting in Pepperell turned to another thorny subject: Should the town try to opt out of state-mandated aerial and roadside spraying of pesticides?

The issues, in significant ways, were connected.

To reduce the spread of eastern equine encephalitis and other mosquito-borne diseases, the state has sprayed millions of acres in recent years with a pesticide found to contain significant amounts of PFAS. The PFAS leached into the pesticide from its packaging. Read more…

Sewage sludge that wastewater treatment districts across America package and sell as home fertilizer contain alarming levels of toxic PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, a new report has revealed.

Sludge, which is lightly treated and marketed as “biosolids”, is used by consumers to fertilize home gardens, and the PFAS levels raise concerns that the chemicals are contaminating vegetables and harming those who eat them.

“Spreading biosolids or sewage sludge where we grow food means some PFAS will get in the soil, some will be taken up by plants, and if the plants are eaten, then that’s a direct route into the body,” said Gillian Miller, a co-author and senior scientist with the Michigan-based Ecology Center. Read more…

LANSING, MI — Michigan officials are advising people to avoid touching surface water foam as they hit the great outdoors for Memorial Day weekend.

The reminder comes from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, (DHHS), which says foam on lakes and rivers can contain unknown chemicals or bacteria, as well as high levels of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”

Bright white foam that accumulates in agitated water or piles-up like shaving cream along the beach has tested positive for high levels of PFAS in some communities. Read more…

On May 27, 2021, The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) released findings from a study of chemical contamination in 57 pieces of single-use plant-based tableware from four European countries. Consumer groups from the four countries purchased bowls and plates made of molded natural fibers or palm leaves as well as paper straws and sent the packaging to a lab to test for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chloropropanols (a chemical group with carcinogenic properties), and pesticide residues. Thirty of the plant-based food packaging articles (53%) contained at least one of the analyzed chemicals in concentrations above German and Danish limits, while another 12 articles (21%) contained chemicals near recommended limits. Every dish made from molded plant-fiber contained either PFAS or chloropropanols above the German/Danish limit.

BEUC’s report is not the first to find chemicals of concern in plant-based packaging alternatives. PFAS is a persistent chemical that bioaccumulates through the food chain but is regularly used to make products water-resistant (FPF reported). Recent research by Bowden et al. in Chemosphere found PFAS in 36 of 38 paper straw products tested (FPF reported) and Zimmerman et al. in Environment International found toxicity levels were similar between plastic and bio-based food packaging (FPF reported). Read more…

With mosquito season here again, there’s reason to wonder if the annual spraying of Chesapeake Bay watershed communities to control the pesky insects could also have put humans at risk by exposing them to “forever chemicals.”

A pair of environmental groups reported recently that high levels of per– and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were detected in a sample of a widely used mosquito insecticide that is sprayed every spring and summer in the streets of 2,100 communities across Maryland, as well as in other states. Read more…

“Forever chemicals” have made their way into widely available fertilizers used in home gardens, according to a new study out today that warns of stark implications for human health.

Samples taken from nine different widely available fertilizers used for home gardening contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to the findings from the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the Sierra Club. Eight of those nine fertilizers exceeded PFAS screening guidelines established by Maine, the state that has taken the most sweeping actions on PFAS in agricultural land application.

The report traces the chemicals back to biosolids — the nutrient-rich organic matter left over following traditional wastewater treatment practices. Fertilizer products are commonly made using that waste. Read more…

The Pentagon has made almost no progress in cleaning up the military installations that are some of the most contaminated with the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, according to an EWG review of Defense Department records.

Of 50 Air Force or Navy bases with some of the highest levels of PFAS contamination, only nine have cleanup plans being developed under the Superfund law, according to the most recent documents made public by the Defense Department. Not a single cleanup plan has been finalized for those nine bases, and little actual cleanup has begun.

More than five years ago, under a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency, Defense completed testing for PFAS in drinking water at 63 installations. EWG has since identified and mapped 703 military sites with known or suspected discharges of PFAS. Read more…