Sewage Sludge

SNAP Comment: According to PFAS and Biosolids: Status, technologies, and trends (2023) ''In addition, land application of biosolids divert a valuable organic product from the landfill. A common practice in both the United States and in Canada, it is particularly important to Ontarians as Ontario's landfills will reach the end of their lives within the next 10-12 years.' The use of sludge is rejected in organic farming because of heavy metal contamination. (Sludge By Any Name Will Never Be “Organic”, (Fall 2003). The City of Regina is now landfilling its sludge rather than sending it to be applied to farm fields because of its high contamination with heavy metals. Another legal option for disposal is incineration which likely releases the toxic pollutants in the air.

EPA Promotes PFAS-Contaminated Sewage Sludge/Biosolids While Halting Regulatory Restrictions (Beyond Pesticides, August 3, 2026) A regulation proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with a comment period ending September 4, 2026, will allow sewage sludge, also called biosolids, fertilizer used in agriculture and other land management to contain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Contaminants in sewage sludge/biosolids have been widely recognized for decades, leading to regulations.The lawsuits against producers of sewage sludge fertilizer cite test results showing PFAS residues in the companies’ products and numerous scientific studies on the adverse effects of PFAS to public health, wildlife, and pollinators. EPA has published a list of 726 chemicals found in biosolids in the National Sewage Sludge Surveys (2022). This list does not include PFAS, which are emerging contaminants of biosolids although they publicly disclosed findings of PFAS in sewage sludge/biosolids in 2001 with the release of the agency’s National Sewage Sludge Survey.

More than 520 chemicals found in English soil, including long-banned medical substances Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds (The Guardian, 3 December 2025) 'More than 520 chemicals have been found in English soils, including pharmaceutical products and toxins that were banned decades ago, because of the practice of spreading human waste to fertilise arable land. The anticonvulsants lamotrigine and carbamazepine were among the human-use medicines reported for the first time in English soils.'.Also found were anti-cancer drugs. 'The EU is working to remove these emerging contaminants from wastewater across the continent by passing legislation requiring countries to implement “quaternary treatment”, which is an advanced pollution removal method that can get rid of micropollutants such as these chemicals. The UK has no plans to do this, and for now is sticking with the less precise tertiary treatment systems.. ...Close to half (46.4%) of the pharmaceutical substances detected had not been reported in previous global monitoring campaigns. The anticonvulsants lamotrigine and carbamazepine were among the human-use medicines reported for the first time in English soils..... It is possible these chemicals will enter the food chain and be ingested by humans who eat food grown in these fields, she said. It could also harm farm productivity if the chemicals inhibit plant growth or negatively affect soil health.'These chemicals aren’t regulated for so there isn’t a drive to develop or to focus on technologies that can remove them. More advanced treatment like the EU’s planned quaternary treatment will typically remove more.”'

Biosolid Biohazard: EPA Sued for Failing to Protect Farmers and Public from PFAS-Contaminated Biosolids (Beyond Pesticides, June 27, 2024) 'Earlier this month, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of a group of ranchers and farmers in Texas harmed by biosolids contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).' 'EPA estimates more than 2.4 million tons of biosolids, or sewage sludge, are applied as fertilizers on farms, homes, parks, and other lands across the U.S. annually. Biosolids result from the wastewater treatment process, which collects wastewater and greywater, including anything flushed down the drain from homes, businesses, and industries. Some of the industries that discharge to wastewater treatment plants include metal plating, pulp and paper mills, fabric, and plastics manufacturing. Wastewater may even include the liquid waste or “leachate” that oozes from landfills.' In Regina, this also includes the refinery. 'As reported in Nature in 2022, EPA has identified 726 chemicals and “structure-based classes” in the biosolids it has tested, including pesticides and drugs (and their associated metabolites), cosmetics, flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs), dioxins, and dibenzofurans. PFAS chemicals are not broken down during sewage treatment and yet biosolids are not currently tested for the presence of PFAS or other chemicals, outside of some heavy metals and pathogens.' SNAP Comment: According to PFAS and Biosolids: Status, technologies, and trends (2023) ''In addition, land application of biosolids divert a valuable organic product from the landfill. A common practice in both the United States and in Canada, it is particularly important to Ontarians as Ontario's landfills will reach the end of their lives within the next 10-12 years.' The use of sludge is rejected in organic farming because of heavy metal contamination. (Sludge By Any Name Will Never Be “Organic”, (Fall 2003). The City of Regina is now landfilling its sludge rather than sending it to be applied to farm fields because of its high contamination with heavy metals. Another legal option for disposal is incineration which likely releases the toxic pollutants in the air.