I mean, maybe I shouldn't be that hard on them -- you do need to reuse human and animal waste if you want to be sustainable, and this is a plausible way to do that, and they weren't thinking about PFAS at the time (only PCBs are mentioned in that document) -- but it should be obvious now that the current sewage system is not compatible with this use case. Too many nasty things can get into it. Which does create a problem -- if you don't apply the sludge, then what do you do with it? It's like we need a whole separate system for only organic waste. Or we have to stop selling to the public -- or to industry -- any compound we're not willing to eat.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/documents/ep...
All kinds of shit goes into the storm water drains, including a bunch of Teflon's relatives.
On the rare occasions that they test a field for PFAS, it often comes up positive. I think it's just "don't ask, don't tell" at this point.
(Edit: Ok, maybe it's "only" 5% of farmland: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2022/04/ewg-forever-c... )
I mean, maybe I shouldn't be that hard on them -- you do need to reuse human and animal waste if you want to be sustainable, and this is a plausible way to do that, and they weren't thinking about PFAS at the time (only PCBs are mentioned in that document) -- but it should be obvious now that the current sewage system is not compatible with this use case. Too many nasty things can get into it. Which does create a problem -- if you don't apply the sludge, then what do you do with it? It's like we need a whole separate system for only organic waste. Or we have to stop selling to the public -- or to industry -- any compound we're not willing to eat.