"Federal regulators have a range of solutions available to tackle the widespread contamination of farmland with toxic chemicals, according to a new report by US academics.
The report, published Feb. 13 by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), offers a framework for the agency to address the contamination of US farmland with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of humanmade chemicals that accumulate in the environment and the bodies of humans and animals.
PFAS end up on agricultural lands when farmers apply tainted sewage sludge as a fertilizer, contaminating crops and soil with chemicals linked to certain cancers and other health harms.
Nearly 70 million acres of US farmland are potentially impacted, according to the Environmental Working Group. PFAS can also spread to farmland through pesticides laced with them – on average, 2.5 million tons of PFAS-containing pesticides are sprayed on crops in California alone."
Shannon Kelleher reports for The New Lede February 20, 2026.
