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In a recent report, the Environmental Protection Agency says “forever chemicals” are present in sewage sludge – chemicals that can pose health risks to humans.
Sewage sludge is the waste product that comes from treating wastewater.
It’s used as fertilizer for farmland and can produce high agricultural yields.
But Glenn Compton, Chairman of Manasota-88, said there are also dangers.
“Well, anytime that you have forever chemicals, there’s that possibility that it gets into the food supply, drinking water supply, and it enters into the body. So there’s a whole list of possibilities that can take place,” Compton told WMNF.
The sludge contains forever chemicals like arsenic and heavy metals that don’t break down in the environment.
“People need to be made aware that when they purchase property for a residential developer that, that’s a possibility that those chemicals still persist,” Compton said.
As new development for the ever-growing county booms, Compton says developers should be required to disclose whether the land was a sludge storage site or had the biosolids applied to it.
PFAS, another group of chemicals found in sewage sludge, can interfere with hormones and cause developmental delays in children.
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