“Forever chemicals,” widely used in everyday consumer products, are linked to cancer, brain damage, thyroid disease, low birth weights, obesity, infertility, hormone suppression and other health issues.
Home gardeners who buy “natural” fertilizers may be exposing themselves to toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, brain damage and other health problems, The Guardian reported.
Lab analysis commissioned by Sierra Club and Ecology Center of Michigan found per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in all nine samples of biosludge home fertilizers sent for testing. Eight of the nine bags contained levels that exceeded screening levels set by the state of Maine.
The products, marketed as “eco” or “natural,” were sold at stores such as Home Depot, Lowes, Menards and Ace Hardware.
Biosludge, or biosolids, are a mix of human feces, industrial chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs that have been “lightly treated” by wastewater treatment plants, repackaged and sold as home fertilizer.
The latest findings sparked concerns about the risks of applying fertilizer containing PFAS to food crops.
Gillian Miller, senior scientist with the Ecology Center, told The Guardian:
“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.”
‘Forever chemicals’ accumulate in humans
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in humans in nature — meaning they don’t break down and can accumulate over time — are toxic to humans.
Studies link the chemicals to kidney and testicular cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, low birth weights and decreased vaccine response in children. The chemicals may also cause thyroid disease, obesity, reduced fertility and hormone suppression.
PFAS make their way into biosludge when industries that use the chemicals to make products resistant to water, stain and grease dump the chemicals into public sewer systems. PFAS and other industrial chemicals end up at wastewater treatment plants where they’re combined with human waste and made into semi-solid sludge.
In addition to being sold for residential use, biosludge is also applied to farmland, forests, parks and golf courses, a practice some say is causing health problems.
According to the Guardian:
“Spreading pollutant-filled biosolids on farmland is making people sick, contaminating drinking water and filling crops, livestock and humans with everything from pharmaceuticals to PFAS.”
PFAS found in pesticides used for mosquito control
PFAS are found in many everyday products including nonstick cookware, plastics, personal care products, cleaning products, pesticides, stain-resistant carpet, waterproof clothing, firefighting foam and more.
Recently, the forever chemicals were found in pesticides used to kill mosquitoes in Maryland. Testing ordered by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Maryland Pesticide Education Network found high levels of PFAS in a pesticide sprayed by the state each spring and summer to kill mosquitos.
The findings raise concern about the human and environmental health effects of spraying pesticides laced with forever chemicals.
Ruth Berlin, executive director of the Maryland Pesticide Education Network, told the Chesapeake Bay Journal:
“Spraying millions of acres with a chemical that does not break down in the environment, and for which there is no safe means of disposal, is beyond nonsensical.”
PFAS found in ‘witches’ brew’ that sickened dozens in New Jersey
PFAS were also found in a toxic cocktail of chemicals emitted by two industrial plants in New Jersey that plaintiffs in multiple lawsuits said caused birth defects, cancer and other illnesses in dozens of people.
Four lawsuits filed against five companies in federal court for the District of New Jersey allege environmental contamination from the plants, including heavy metals, solvents and forever chemicals, polluted water, soil and air, caused a number of health issues in nearby residents.
Steven Phillips, an attorney representing plaintiffs in lawsuits over the chemicals, told NJ Spotlight News:
“You really have a witches’ brew exposing a population for years and decades. It’s a public health catastrophe.”
The defendants in the case, which include Minnesota-based 3M, a leading manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, are accused of “making, using and disposing of PFAS chemicals and of being responsible for their contamination of air, water and soil.”
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Rabbit poop rules as fertilizer!
No PFAS.
“Biosludge, or biosolids, are a mix of human feces,… repackaged and sold as home fertilizer.”
Hence the old saying, “Eat shit and die.”
Man that grossed me out learning about the Okinawans pooping in the field and then the camp freaking out about parasites.
Maine should just increase the screening levels. Problem solved.
That’s what the EPA and FDA do whenever something is too expensive to change and it is not killing people outright. I have always been impressed that Europe takes chemical safety seriously and the USA does not.
Does it rain in your basement? No? Don’t worry about it.
OK, so what about groundwater seepage? Did your old floor leak, accumulate water? If not, your foundation is doing a great job keeping out water! Don’t worry about it.
This 60 year old house has a concrete floor. Never leaked, not even a drop.
YOU MUST SEAL YOUR CONCRETE FLOOR …. sales technique / fear mongering from companies that sell sealers.
EPA and FDA have really been shown to be more concerned about the right kind of corporation than health and environmental concerns. This PFAS business has been ignored for too long. It is shaping up to be as bad or worse than leaded gasoline and we will never know the true extent of harm the planet is still feeling from that greed led debacle. Most people do not know it coated the surface of the planet in lead. This country still makes it legal to put fluoride in the water despite any evidence it does any good and an overwhelming amount of proof it is harmful.
PFAS could be worse.
As an interesting aside, I had an O-chem professor who was declined for a job in fluorine chemistry because the chief scientist did want any dead people on his hands and he hadn’t worked with fluorine before. Nasty stuff.
All of the halogens seem to be quite reactive. Scary stuff.
The silicon compounds in their final form should be stable, inert, and non-toxic. On the way to that form such as while still as silane, they can be quite toxic and reactive. Silicones themselves are highly studied for safety.
So based on cursory research and general knowledge of chemistry, I would say that after it is applied it is a good option, but caution is probably indicated for the application.
Ok, so this Siloxa-Tek 8500 should be safe to use?
You can find the safety data sheets on Amazon.
Thanks.
Oh yea and always read the MSDS. Those are honest. Check out the one on fluoride for fun.
Meanwhile DDT is still banned because it was too effective at saving millions of lives. The exact opposite goal of the world’s power brokers.
Chemours/ DuPont poisoned the water supply with several chemicals including PFAS , PFOA, and GenX from it’s location in Fayetteville, NC east ward to the New Hanover County coast Cape Fear River Basin since 1979. It was a best kept secret until 2019. Democrat Gov. Cooper punished Chemours/Dupont by making them apologize. Fellow democrat NC AG Josh Stein filed a lawsuit against Chemours/Dupont that apparently has been shoved under a rug as questions concerning the law suit have gone unanswered. The health of Eastern NC residents has been affected with an increase in cancer, thyroid disease and fetal anomalies and fetal deaths.
I wonder if Chemours/ DuPont is one of the unmentioned companies in New Jersey.
Love your country, lynch a chemist today!
Lawyers and politicians first.