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‘It’s not sustainable’: US farmers reeling as Iran war pushes fertilizer costs up (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 8 hours ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/news@lemmy.world

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[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

*don't?

But they do. That sludge is mostly spread on non-food fields though, because that would require more treatment than we are willing to pay for.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

The fertilizer had been made with biosolids, part of an effort to find a climate-friendly method to recycle municipal sewage. But the fertilizer also contained synthetic and highly hazardous chemicals known as PFAS, which are found in hundreds of household products and have had devastating effects on farms and ranches that inadvertently spread them on their land.

An untold number of farms and ranches across Texas and the rest of the nation may have also used fertilizer made from sewage tainted with these “forever chemicals” — which don’t break down in the environment — without knowing it.

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/texas-farmers-pfas-forever-chemicals-biosolids-fertilizer/

Johnson County environmental crimes investigator Dana Ames was asked to look into the soil and land issues; her findings showed high levels of contamination. The fertilizer has had devastating effects — physically and financially — on Coleman and his wife, he said. He is one of the five farmers in Johnson County who filed a 2024 civil lawsuit against Synagro, alleging the plaintiffs’ land was poisoned by the company’s biosolids fertilizer. The company took over Fort Worth’s biosolids processing operations in 2020 following resident complaints of odors around sites where fertilizer was applied. Fort Worth was not named in the lawsuit.

https://fortworthreport.org/2025/01/27/sewage-fertilizer-poses-health-risks-epa-warns-what-does-that-mean-for-north-texas/

Nearly 70 million acres of U.S. farmland could be contaminated by the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, according to estimates from biosolids industry groups. This contamination stems from the widespread use of sewage sludge as fertilizer.

The practice remains largely unregulated, despite mounting evidence it could contaminate food and water, creating public health risks. State and federal policymakers need to tackle this threat with steps such as banning the use of PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge on farm fields.

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2025/01/forever-chemicals-sludge-may-taint-nearly-70-million-farmland-acres

Harmful chemicals in sewage sludge that is spread on pasture land as fertilizer are causing cancer, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. The risk is highest for people who regularly consume milk, beef and other products from farms where it is spread. The risk is “several orders of magnitude” above what it considers acceptable, the agency said.

https://apnews.com/article/sewage-sludge-pasture-farms-milk-beef-harmful-cancer-epa-42e084b6a41852fdafd199d355c7a890