The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a draft guidance document that departs from a Biden-era report highlighting human health risks, including cancer, from farms contaminated with "forever chemicals" known as PFAS. The Biden-era assessment detailed the dangers of applying PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge to farmland and suggested potential restrictions on this practice if finalized.
However, the Trump EPA's water chief, Jessica Kramer, criticized the Biden report, stating it "exhibited a number of serious flaws that have caused confusion." Kramer noted the agency did not conduct a national survey of the chemicals involved and argued that the Biden administration "only evaluated sewage sludge management practices with higher potential for human health risk," which she said "does not reflect the majority" of actual uses.
Erica Kyzmir-McKeon, director of communities and toxics at the Conservation Law Foundation, condemned the Trump EPA's guidance, saying it "completely fails to address the risk to human health and the environment from PFAS-contaminated sludge." She emphasized that sewage sludge has been spread on millions of acres of farmland nationwide, exposing people to PFAS through soil, water, crops, meat, fish, and dust.
In response, Kramer stated that the guidance "will provide Americans with commonsense recommendations that can protect public health, while also supporting wastewater systems and beneficial use of biosolids [sewage sludge] when appropriate."
The Biden-era document, released during the final days of that administration, warned that under certain conditions, applying contaminated sludge to land could pose unacceptable risks of cancer and other health effects.
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