'Contamination Crisis': US Pesticides Contain PFAS, Endangering Food and Water

Pesticides used on crops in the United States are increasingly laced with "forever chemicals," making it likely that they are being spread in common foods and waterways, according to a study published Wednesday.

The peer-reviewed study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first full review of the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in pesticides. The authors, from three nonprofit groups, found that 14% of the active ingredients in U.S. pesticides were PFAS—including 30% of the active ingredients approved by regulators in the last 10 years—as were an unquantified amount of the inert ingredients.

"This is truly frightening news because pesticides are some of the most widely dispersed pollutants in the world," said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Lacing pesticides with forever chemicals is likely burdening the next generation with more chronic diseases and impossible cleanup responsibilities."

"This is a multigenerational threat," he wrote on social media after the study's release. "The true harm won't be realized in my lifetime, but in my children's and grandchildren's lifetimes. Our shortcomings should not be their burden to bear."

After being developed by chemical companies in the mid-20th century, PFAS were lightly regulated and little scrutinized for many decades, even as they gained widespread use in household products. However, they've drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, as more and more studies have emerged about their potential dangers, including links to cancer and a host of other diseases and serious health issues.

The forever chemicals are now incredibly widespread and can be found in the blood of the overwhelming majority of Americans. A study published earlier this month found that certain common foods, such as white rice and eggs, were associated with a higher level of PFAS in the body.

Two types of PFAS thought to be among the most toxic, PFOA and PFOS, have been found in pesticide products, likely due to the leaching of fluorinated containers, the new study suggests. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned certain uses of fluorinated containers in December, but an industry legal challenge succeeded in federal court in March, weakening the regulatory effect.

The EPA announced new regulations on PFAS in drinking water in April but utility and chemical companies have filed several legal challenges. The chemicals industry, meanwhile, faces the prospect of its own momentous legal challenges, due to the way it concealed the dangers of its products for so long.

To coincide with the new study's publication, Emory University researchers, who weren't involved with the study, wrote a "perspective" for Environmental Health Perspectives that cited a need for much stronger federal regulation.

"The regulations surrounding pesticides are currently outdated and ineffective, so this discovery of PFAS presence in pesticide formulations represents a new opportunity for the EPA to improve the scientific validity of pesticide risk assessment to better capture real-world exposure scenarios," the Emory researchers wrote.

The study authors themselves have been critical of the EPA. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), one of the three nonprofits that conducted the study, sued the EPA in February for failing to adequately disclose PFAS health and safety data.

Kyla Bennett, PEER's science policy director, attacked the agency, which uses a narrower definition of PFAS than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and has often waived often immunotoxicity study requirements for pesticides, in a statement on Wednesday.

"I can think of no better way to poison people and the environment than to spray PFAS-laden pesticides on our crops and in our homes," Bennett said. "The blame for this contamination crisis lies squarely on EPA's shoulders."