Are PFAS Chemicals Now Agriculture's Problem?

It’s time for your Southeast Regional Ag News. You are listening to the Ag Information Network, I’m Haylie Shipp.

Agriculture is filled with a lot of acronyms. Let’s add one more to the list. PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large group of manmade fluorinated organic chemicals. You find them in many consumer goods from firefighting foam to Scotchguard to food packaging. And they’re also readily being found in one place where they cling to organic material - our soil. Due to their inability to break down, PFAS are being deemed forever chemicals and some studies suggest exposure to them is associated with a number of health-related diagnoses. Courtney Briggs with the American Farm Bureau Federation…

“We’re seeing some regulatory actions at the federal level and right now there’s a proposed rule that’s really quite concerning because it regulates PFAS as a hazardous material under the superfund law. So, the superfund law will open people up to liability and it goes after responsible parties to pay for the cleanup of hazardous material. So that’s really a concern for innocent people, you know, passive receivers of PFAS like farmers.”

Passive receivers meaning that the ag community does not create PFAS.