Introduction to PFAS “Forever Chemicals” in Sewage Sludge
Tracy Frisch, M.S.
Chair, Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls
Sierra Club, Atlantic Chapter
Media Release of Sewage Sludge report June 1, 2023
PFAS Quick Facts
• These “emerging contaminants” have been used extensively in consumer products since the 1940s.
• There are about 15,000 different PFAS compounds (recent EPA estimate).
• Typical lab tests for PFAS can only detect 30 different compounds.
• Testing for Total Organic Fluorine is the best way to detect all of the PFAS in a sample.
How do PFAS harm
human health?
1. Thousands of consumer and commercial products contain PFAS (such as mascara, lipstick, body care products, floor wax, cleaning products, adhesives, paints, caulks, clothing, stain resistant products).
2. Toilet paper contains incidental PFAS from the manufacturing process.
3. Some factories that use PFAS discharge wastewater into public sewers.
4. Large volumes of untreated landfill leachate, with high concentrations of PFAS, are accepted by some wastewater treatment plants.
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Human excrement is not thought to be a significant source of PFAS, as the half life for various PFAS chemicals in our bodies is measured in years.
A pregnant woman passes on some of her PFAS body burden to her developing fetus and a nursing woman transfers PFAS to her baby through her milk.
How does PFAS get into sewage sludge?
TIME, March 2, 2023
Now We Need to Worry About Harmful ‘Forever Chemicals’
in Our Toilet Paper Too
University of Florida
Toilet Paper Study, published
March 2023 in a peer reviewed journal
This study tested PFAS in 21 brands of toilet paper from 4 continents and in sewage sludge/biosolids from 8 wastewater treatment plants in Florida.
A PFAS precursor called 6:2 diPAP was by far the most prevalent PFAS-type chemical in the samples. Typical PFAS testing probably wouldn’t detect this compound. 6:2 diPAP breaks into smaller PFAS compounds, which are extremely persistent in the environment and harmful to human health.
Of relevance is a 2018 study, which found that 72% of the solid material in wastewater consisted of toilet paper.
All bagged composts made from sewage sludge (biosolids) that were tested contained alarming levels of PFAS.
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Of 33 PFAS compounds tested for, 24 different PFAS compounds were detected at levels in parts per billion in one or more of the biosolids composts sampled.
From Sludge in the Garden: Toxic PFAS in Home Fertilizers Made from Sewage Sludge
report, 2021, Ann Arbor Ecology Center and Michigan Sierra Club.
Levels of Different PFAS Compounds Detected in Sewage Sludge Composts Sold to the Public
From Sludge in the Garden: Toxic PFAS in Home Fertilizers Made from Sewage Sludge report, 2021, Ann Arbor Ecology Center and Michigan Sierra Club – except for Washington County Sewer District compost (the sample second from the right), which was purchased by an area resident and tested by Eurofins.
Concentrations of Different PFAS Compounds Detected in Sewage Sludge from the Only 8 Wastewater Treatment Plants Sampled by NYS DEC in 2017
The state of Maine established screening levels for two PFAS compounds, 2.5 parts per billion for PFOA and 5.2 parts per billion for PFOS. Just about every sample tested in Maine exceeded those levels, as did all 8 NY samples tested.
On May 11, 2023 NYS DEC issued a proposed PFAS standard for biosolids.
The draft regulation set a limit of 20 parts per billion for PFOA and for PFOS, two PFAS chemicals whose production was phased out in the early 2000s.
This limit is very high, analogous to setting the speed limit at 300 MPH. It will not protect public health or the environment.
It also errs by failing to consider the array of other PFAS and PFAS precursors detected in sewage sludge, including 6:2 diPAP, the most prevalent PFAS in toilet paper and sewage sludge in the 2023 University of Florida study.
In 2022, the State of Maine banned the land application of sewage sludge-based soil amendments and fertilizers.
At the same time Maine established a $60 million farmer compensation fund for farms that have been contaminated with PFAS from sewage sludge, and is testing 1,500 sites for PFAS contamination,where biosolids had been spread in the past.