Read the full article by Daniel Walton (Modern Farmer)
“They’re in the sewage sludge that farmers spread on fields as fertilizer, the pesticides used to control insects and the groundwater pumped for irrigation. They’re linked to health problems ranging from cancer to thyroid disease, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said no level of exposure to them is safe.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the class of chemicals more commonly known as PFAS, are everywhere, not just in the world of agriculture. Since the 1940s, chemical companies such as Chemours, DuPont and 3M have developed more than 14,000 PFAS compounds for use in products as varied as nonstick cookware, electric-vehicle batteries and refrigerators. Because all PFAS contain bonds between carbon and fluorine, among the hardest to break in chemistry, they’ve earned the moniker ‘forever chemicals’ for their remarkable persistence in the environment.
The problems with PFAS are daunting, but people are now mobilizing to reduce the dangers they pose. At the federal level, the EPA recently enacted its first enforceable limits for six PFAS in drinking water, as well as placed two PFAS on the list of hazardous substances covered by the Superfund law. And in communities across the country, researchers and local officials are testing out innovative approaches.” …