"A study by the Waterkeeper Alliance across 19 states documented elevated PFAS concentrations downstream of wastewater treatment facilities and fields treated with biosolids. Unregulated discharge from industry sources are to blame, the group says."
"Harmful “forever chemicals” flow from wastewater treatment plants into surface water across the U.S., according to a new report by a clean-water advocacy group.
Weekslong sampling by the Waterkeeper Alliance both upstream and downstream of 22 wastewater treatment facilities in 19 states saw total per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations increase in 95 percent of tested waterways after receiving discharge from the facilities. Some of the waterways supply drinking water to nearby communities.
The study also found increased PFAS levels downstream of 80 percent of waterway-adjacent fields in eight states treated with “biosolids,” solid matter recovered from the sewage treatment process and spread on farmland as fertilizer.
Research on PFAS has linked the chemicals to multiple types of cancer, liver and kidney damage, reduced fertility, lower birth weights and endocrine system interference. Now, scientists suspect the chemicals can also impair immune system function, said toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, who was not involved in the new report."
Anika Jane Beamer reports for Inside Climate News July 2, 2025.
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