Dairy regulators and health experts in Maine are investigating whether fertilizing farmland with sewage could threaten the state's milk supply.
The issue first came to light when Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone discovered in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk. "The chemicals on Stone’s farm likely came from biosolids, or nutrient-rich sewage from municipal utilities, that he spread across his fields, according to a report last year by Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection," Richard Valdmanis and Joshua Schneyer report for Reuters. "The chemicals are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS – some of which have been linked to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems."
Because of contaminated sites like Stone's and others around the country, new Maine Gov. Janet Mills established a task force this month to study the issue and make recommendations. State DEP staff has been working to identify farms that may have used the contaminated biosolids and is testing for the chemicals at more than 95 locations, Valdmanis and Schneyer report.
Thousands of farms across the nation, including hundreds in Maine, use biosolids as fertilizer, said Patrick MacRoy, deputy director at the Maine-based Environmental Health Strategy Center. Alan Bjerga, a spokesperson for the National Milk Producers Federation, said in a statement that the organization believes the incident at Stone's farm is isolated, and that it sees "no wide threat to the milk supply," Reuters reports.
The issue first came to light when Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone discovered in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk. "The chemicals on Stone’s farm likely came from biosolids, or nutrient-rich sewage from municipal utilities, that he spread across his fields, according to a report last year by Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection," Richard Valdmanis and Joshua Schneyer report for Reuters. "The chemicals are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS – some of which have been linked to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems."
Because of contaminated sites like Stone's and others around the country, new Maine Gov. Janet Mills established a task force this month to study the issue and make recommendations. State DEP staff has been working to identify farms that may have used the contaminated biosolids and is testing for the chemicals at more than 95 locations, Valdmanis and Schneyer report.
Thousands of farms across the nation, including hundreds in Maine, use biosolids as fertilizer, said Patrick MacRoy, deputy director at the Maine-based Environmental Health Strategy Center. Alan Bjerga, a spokesperson for the National Milk Producers Federation, said in a statement that the organization believes the incident at Stone's farm is isolated, and that it sees "no wide threat to the milk supply," Reuters reports.
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