Official representing the United States Environmental Protection Agency have admitted that the ‘processed’ municipal sewage that tens of thousands of farmers across America, including many located in Michigan have been using as nutrient rich fertilizer for several decades to enrich millions of acres of farm land may contain heavy concentrations of the wide ranging suite of chemicals commonly referred to as PFAS that are known to enhance the risk of the onset of certain types of cancer, and may also cause birth defects. Studies also indicate that protracted exposure to sufficiently elevated levels of certain PFAS may cause a variety of health effects including developmental effects on the thyroid, liver, kidneys, certain hormones, and the immune system.
A growing plethora of research findings indicates that processed sewage referred to as ‘black sludge’ – which is the sewage that flows from homes, businesses, schools, and factories – often contains heavy concentrations of chemicals known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that represent a group of synthetic chemicals that have been used to support the manufacture of certain widely used products such as outdoor clothing and carpeting.
Utilized in many consumer products and industrial processes since the 1950s, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of synthetic chemicals that are resistant to water, grease, and heat. Some common uses for PFAS include:
- Food packaging
- Outdoor Clothing
- Firefighting foam
- Non-stick products
- Ski and snowboard waxes
Commonly referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ due to their capacity to remain in a toxic state for many decades, PFAS is now being detected, sometimes at dangerously high levels, on farm fields located throughout Texas, Maine, Michigan, New York, and Tennessee. The U. S. EPA admission that processed sewage often contains high concentrations of PFAS follows many reports of the now widespread chemical acting to sicken or kill farm animals, render the milk of dairy cows useless, and contaminating the produce grown on the farm.
Involving tens of millions of acres, the epic scale of farmland contaminated by processed sewage derived toxic PFAS is only now starting to become apparent to federal and state authorities. Representing one of the first states in the nation to investigate the potential for processed sewage sludge to contain high levels of PFAS, Michigan state officials recently shut down one farm located near Brighton, Michigan where tests for PFAS revealed particularly high concentrations in the soil and in the cattle that grazed upon the land. The Brighton farm had received the processed sewage sludge that it spread upon its fields from a municipal sewage treatment plant located in Wixom. The State of Michigan also ruled that the affected property may never again be used for agriculture. As of this date, Michigan officials have not conducted widespread testing for the existence of high concentrations of PFAS at other farms, some have suggested that this is at least partly out of concern for the harmful economic effects on the state’s agriculture industry.
In response to the fact that the United States Geological Survey found that at least 45% of the nation’s tap water is contaminated with PFAS chemicals, the United States Environmental Protection Agency imposed a near zero threshold for the existence of PFAS within drinking water in the spring of 2024.
In addition to the fact that many farmers throughout Michigan have been utilizing PFAS saturated processed sewage as fertilizer on their fields for decades, the raw ‘unprocessed’ sewage that originates from hundreds of thousands of dysfunctional septic tanks also often contains high concentrations of the highly toxic chemicals that continues to run-off into the once crystal-clear freshwaters of Michigan’s streams, rivers, and inland lakes.
To view the information rich United States Environmental Protection Agency’s PFAS dedicated page, click here
To view the State of Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) web page, click here