I think most of us assume that whatever food is on the grocery store shelves is safe to east. That’s not necessarily so now. Enforcement of the EPA regulations intending to protect us from foods that are not safe to eat are being removed. That makes what to buy and eat and what not to buy and eat more problematic than it should be. My comments, afterward, should help.
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GOP’s new move will exacerbate ‘rapidly
spreading chemical disaster’: expert
Stephen Prager
Common Dreams
July 15, 2025
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing to block action that would protect farms from toxic “forever chemicals” found in fertilizers made from sewage sludge.
The provision, introduced as part of a government spending bill unveiled Monday, would bar the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the findings from a January risk assessment, which found that the sludge contains dangerous amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
According to the environmental advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the act could cause agricultural losses and pose serious risks to public health.
For decades, the federal government encouraged farmers to spread municipal sewage onto their farmland, as it was a good source of nutrients and a preferable alternative to putting the sludge in landfills.
Nearly 20% of U.S. agricultural land is estimated to use this sludge, commonly known as “biosolids,” in fertilizer, and 70 million acres of farmland may be contaminated.
These biosolids contain large amounts of PFAS, which are absorbed through the roots of plants and contaminate plant and animal products that end up on store shelves.
These chemicals are known to accumulate in the body for years without degrading and cause increased rates of cancer, decreased fertility, and developmental delays in children.
The EPA’s January study found that the risks associated with PFAS in these sewage sludge-based fertilizers “exceed EPA’s acceptable thresholds, sometimes by several orders of magnitude.” Even very small quantities of these chemicals, it found, could pose major risks.
The GOP bill, however, forbids the EPA from using any funding to “finalize, implement, administer, or enforce” that risk assessment. PEER science policy director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with the EPA, said …
“Preventing EPA from protecting public health
and our food supply from toxic contamination
epitomizes special interest politics at their
worst. If finalized, this ban will leave
ill-equipped state agricultural agencies
to deal with a rapidly spreading
chemical disaster.”
Republicans have faced pressure from chemical manufacturing groups to kill PFAS regulations. In 2023, a report from Food & Water Watch found that eight major companies, including Dow and DuPont, spent a combined $55.7 million to lobby against bills to rein in PFAS between 2019 and 2022. The American Chemistry Council, the industry’s lobbying arm, spent over $58.7 million during that same period.
The rule banning action on PFAS is part of a broader effort by Republicans to gut environmental regulations. The bill released Monday slashes EPA spending by over $2 billion, nearly 25%.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has also weakened standards on PFAS in drinking water, which were adopted during the Biden administration.
PEER staff counsel Laura Dumais, who filed a lawsuit against the EPA last year for its slow rollout of PFAS regulations, said …
“Across the country, farms have had to be
condemned and livestock slaughtered due
to PFAS pollution from fertilizers. Further
delay in preventing more of these needless
tragedies would be unconscionable.”
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My first recommendation: only buy and eat organic foods. In some states, getting the “organic” certification may be more difficult. In that case, many farmers will state that they use no chemicals whatever, but do not have the “organic” label. In those instances, meet those farmers at farmers’ markets and develop a personal trust that what they’re claiming is true.
While it’s comforting to be able to rely on a third party – such as a government agency staffed by scientists – the ultimate responsibility for our health and the health of our family is on us. In this case, we have a positive option.
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I’m grateful that the growing numbers of people who have bought and read my new book, “T, D, Gaia and Me,” have responded so positively. So far, all gave the book a score of 5 (out of 5). But, even more, readers added comments about the book being really easy to read, beautiful, and an enjoyable reading experience that helps make sustainable living a readily attainable and desirable outcome.
If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you have the same positive experience.
