Tuesday February 11, 2025
Statesman Journal —
For the third time, Oregon lawmakers are pushing a bill to study concentrations of the “forever chemical” PFAS in agricultural fields fertilized with sewage sludge.
Public wastewater systems throughout the state, including those in Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Albany and Wilsonville, offer treated sludge leftover from sewage processing, known as biosolids, to farmers who don’t grow crops for human consumption.
But there is increasing concern that the biosolids could be contaminated with PFAS, or per- and poly-fluorinated substances, a family of chemicals used since the 1940s for their heat-, moisture-, grease- and stain-resistance, as well as non-stick qualities.
Growing evidence points to human health effects from PFAS, including increased cholesterol levels, changes in liver enzymes, small decreases in infant birth weights, decreased vaccine response in children, increased risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, and increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer.