Knowledge progresses with scientific inquiry.

Many ancient societies believed the Earth was flat. Today we know our planet is spherical although the number of flat-Earth conspiracists is growing despite scientific fact.

Similarly, despite the backlash against the theory of evolution after Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” in the 19th Century, evolution by natural selection is now widely accepted, established by observable facts about living organisms — although a pseudoscientific form of creationism, intelligent design, continues to attract followers.

Climate change, too, is now widely accepted by scientists around the globe as caused by humans and our use of fossil fuels although of course there are still climate-change deniers, some of whom are blinded by or unconcerned because of their own self-interest in the industry.

Science is not perfect. Hypotheses rise and fall as inquiry persists.

Each of us had front-row seats over the last several years as we learned about COVID-19. The very first directives to prevent spread of the virus included washing surfaces, which later fell by the wayside as it became clear that the respiratory infection was largely airborne.

Mask-wearing eventually became accepted by most as the way to prevent the spread of the disease. And then, with seemingly miraculous speed, two new messengerRNA vaccines were approved in December 2020, allowing lockdowns to be lifted.

The long road to developing the mRNA vaccines had actually started in 1984 when a group of Harvard scientists used a synthesized RNA enzyme to make biologically active messengerRNA. Three years later, Dr. Robert Malone mixed mRNA with fat droplets and discovered that, when human cells were added to the mixture, they absorbed the mRNA and made proteins.

In the 1990s, researchers tested mRNA as a treatment in rats and as an influenza and cancer vaccine in mice. And so, through the years, the scientific inquiry persisted, resulting in a way to control a worldwide pandemic — although of course there are still people who deny the efficacy of the vaccination.

This background leads us to the topic of our editorial, on biosolids. More than two decades ago, on this page, we advocated for using biosolids to fertilize farmland. Societies around the world and over time have used human waste to fertilize crops.

It seemed to us all those years ago that this was an elegant solution to an important problem. We Americans send hundreds of millions of pounds daily from our toilets to wastewater facilities. This newspaper for half a century has pushed recycling in every form.

Following a national workshop in 1973 that brought together researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Association of Land Grant Colleges, research on the risks and benefits of using biosolids as fertilizer followed.

The science at that time showed that the benefits would outweigh the risks; the annual risk of death per one million population for smoking a pack of cigarettes a day was 277, while for exposure to chemicals in biosolids applied to land, it was less than 1.

The benefits were substantive — biosolids applied to farmland add nutrients, improve soil structure, and enhance moisture retention. Also, using biosolids as fertilizer saves space in landfills, recycles a waste product, and reduces demand for synthetic fertilizers.

We urged use of biosolids as fertilizer. We were wrong.

Scientific inquiry has progressed — although more is needed — and we now understand the hazards of the practice.

Our Hilltown reporter, Noah Zweifel, wrote at length in June 2023 about advocacy groups like the Sierra Club and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York calling on the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health, and legislature to control the spreading of sewage sludge on farmland.

And this week, our New Scotland reporter has written about Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy signing a 90-day moratorium on using biosolids on farmland within the county.

Mulkerrin, who took a deep dive into the numbers, found that about 57 percent of the state’s sewage sludge is buried in landfills while about 22 percent is burned, and the remaining 22 percent is recycled.

Burying or burning the sludge is not good for the environment but it turns out that the 61,000 tons of biosolids annually applied to farmland in New York state may be worse.

Nationwide, the percentage is much higher. According to a 2023 paper posted by the National Institutes of Health, over 40 percent of the six million dry metric tons of sewage sludge produced annually in the United States is land applied. This year, the EPA put the share of biosolids applied to farmland even higher, at 60 percent.

“Current research,” the 2023 paper says, “indicates that persistent organic compounds, or emerging pollutants, found in pharmaceuticals and personal care products, microplastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have the potential to contaminate ground and surface water, and the uptake of these substances from soil amended by the land application of biosolids can result in contamination of food sources.”

We Americans are ingesting PFAs, often called “forever chemicals,” and so we are excreting them.

Known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally degrade, PFAs are a group of over 9,000 manmade chemicals that are used in the production of all sorts of products, including fast-food packaging, non-stick cookware, clothing, and toilet paper, according to a report published in 2023 by the Sierra Club. 

Because these chemicals don’t break down well, they can easily accumulate in the environment and build up in the human bloodstream, with the EPA reporting evidence that PFAs can contribute to certain cancers, hormonal imbalances, weakened immune systems, developmental challenges, and more. 

The Sierra Club report says that EPA testing requirements for biosolids used as fertilizer do not require testing for PFAS, but that their own testing, done in collaboration with The Ecology Center, found that eight out of nine sampled fertilizer products contained PFAS levels that exceeded the threshold set by the state of Maine — a threshold the Sierra Club considers exemplary. 

The report notes that Maine and Vermont have each taken steps to mitigate PFAs in solid waste, but that New York state has not implemented meaningful standards. 

So, while we support Albany County’s 90-day moratorium we don’t see a solution on the horizon. The county has said the pause will allow the federal EPA and the state DEC to update their regulations.

As Mulkerrin reports, parts of the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and Western New York have been at loggerheads for years with the state over the right to ban the agricultural use of sewage sludge.

In the past decade, for example, municipalities in Clinton, Wyoming, and Niagara counties were blocked by the state Department of Agriculture from enforcing local laws that would prohibit sludge being used on their lands — outcomes that were upheld on appeal.

Even if our state did work to protect our farmland, as in Maine and Vermont, we New Yorkers are still drinking milk from other states and eating produce from other states.

Cows that graze on land fertilized with biosolids, for example, can have PFAs in their milk.

So what is needed is federal regulation.

The 2023 National Institutes of Health paper concluded, “To address these current risks, there needs to be a significant investment in ongoing research and infrastructure support for advancements in wastewater treatment; expanded manufacture and use of sustainable products; increased public communication of the risks associated with overuse of pharmaceuticals and plastics; and development and implementation of regulations that are protective of health and the environment.”

By the end of his first term, President Donald Trump had reversed almost 100 environmental rules.

“It was clear that rolling back regulations was an agenda item for the new administration,” said Tom Burke, a top EPA official under the Obama administration about Trump’s first term. “But even more troubling was the denial of science.”

He also described Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick whom the Senate confirmed this week to head the EPA, as a “climate denier.” Trump himself has called climate change a “hoax” created by the Chinese.

On Monday, in a story about the Trump administration warning over 1,100 EPA workers they could be fired at any time, The New York Times quoted Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, saying, “E.P.A. is at the center of the bullseye for President Trump’s vindictive purge of public servants.”

Denying science will not solve our problems. Fires will rage, droughts will kill, hurricanes will become more frequent and fierce if we deny scientific facts as a hoax.

This past week, the EPA “quietly removed all information about climate change from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website, burying it deep in sections that are harder to find.”

Pretending a problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away. That is true of climate change and it is true of sewage sludge having PFAs. Despite assertions from flat-Earth conspiracists, our planet is spherical. Scientifically researched facts matter, and can form a foundation for solutions.

The EPA itself has said biosolids can contain a variety of pollutants and that “utilities and states need information on these pollutants to ensure that they are processed, handled, and used in a way that minimizes potential harm.”

In 2018, the EPA office of inspector general — and it is noteworthy that Trump last month fired 17 inspector generals, essential independent government watchdogs, including at the EPA — issued a scathing report, finding that the EPA could not properly regulate biosolids because “it lacked the data or risk assessment tools needed to make a determination on the safety of 352 pollutants found in biosolids.”

Three years later, under the Biden administration, scientific research was underway to provide the needed data and tools.

In 2021, when the EPA announced $6 million in research grants, Wayne Cascio, in the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, said, “It is important that municipalities and utilities have the information they need to treat and manage biosolids. These grants will help us leverage resources and knowledge to ensure the latest science is being used to protect public health and the environment.”

We fear the science that would bring such protection will be on hold for the next four years at best.

The source of the problem of course is the manufacturing of products with PFAs in the first place.

The Northeast Organic Farmers Association of New York — which is made up of farmers, gardeners, and consumers alike — has called for the state and federal governments to protect the livelihoods of New York’s farmers. 

NOFA-NY Policy Manager Katie Baildon told The Enterprise, “The biggest obstacle at the moment is continued contamination.” Low awareness of the problem is also a contributing factor, she added. 

“With a better understanding of where sewage sludge has been spread, NY could create a plan for testing and monitoring like the state of Maine is doing and create informed programs to support farms that may be impacted including soil and water testing, health screenings, crisis support, financial and liability relief, and assistance in navigating future business plans,” Baildon said.

In the absence of federal leadership, the state and county will have to do the best they can to protect the health of New York farms and citizens.

As we said at the start: Knowledge progresses with scientific inquiry. But, if government leaders don’t support research and follow the science, we will poison not only our land but ourselves.