Sewage sludge – the waste left over from the wastewater treatment process – is contaminating communities and farms across the United Sates with toxic "forever chemicals."

To get rid of this material, companies commonly market it as cheap fertilizer for farmland and home gardens. But growing evidence shows that sewage sludge is heavily contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are highly toxic chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm and can damage organs and immune systems. Communities across the country are already experiencing devastating impacts from this practice – finding that their drinking water and food are polluted with high levels of PFAS. Despite these risks, there are no national requirements to test for or limit the use of sludge as fertilizer and reduce public exposure to PFAS.

Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment recognizing the serious health risks of sludge spread on land when analyzing two of the most dangerous PFAS chemicals commonly found in sludge – PFOA and PFOS. The public comment period on the draft risk assessment closed in August 2025, but the agency still has not finalized the assessment or taken further action.

Finalizing this risk assessment is a critical step toward protecting farms, food, water, and communities from devastating PFAS contamination.

EPA must act now.

Send a message to EPA leadership urging them to finalize the sewage sludge risk assessment and move forward with national regulations limiting PFAS in sewage sludge.

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