PFAS-Contaminated Biosolid Fertilizer (Sewage Sludge)

Treated sewage sludge, marketed as "biosolid" fertilizer, has been spread on farmland across the United States for decades — but it can carry PFAS ("forever chemicals") that never break down in soil or water. In Maine, more than 80 farms have been confirmed contaminated; dairy farmer Fred Stone's herd tested with PFAS levels so high in its milk that the milk could not legally be sold, forcing him to halt production and euthanize his cows. Maine became the first U.S. state to ban land application of PFAS-containing sewage sludge. There are currently no federal limits on PFAS in biosolids and no requirement to test them before farmland application. Farmers filed a federal lawsuit alleging the EPA failed to regulate PFAS in sewage sludge despite decades of internal knowledge of the risk, but a federal district court dismissed the suit in 2025, leaving the regulatory gap unresolved.