Yesterday, PFAS impacted farmers from across the country are gathered to speak to the media about what the contamination has meant for their livelihoods and their businesses in a press conference. Impacted farmers and policy experts will speak about the economic and health impacts of the contamination of farmland with the so called ‘forever chemicals.’ Speakers addressed the policy solutions to this environmental health crisis. Impacted farmers have gathered this week in East Lansing for MSU Center for PFAS Research’s Annual Symposium, which is organized by Michigan State University, Maine Farmland Trust, USDA and University of Maine.

PFAS are a class of manmade chemicals characterized by their persistence in the human body and in the environment and with their toxic health impacts including liver disease, kidney cancer, thyroid disorders and autoimmune disorders of the digestive tract. Farms have been contaminated with the chemicals across the country when PFAS-laden firefighting foam is used at nearby airports and military facilities, and when sewage sludge is spread on farmland as an agricultural fertilizer. Without targeted support from their state and federal departments of agriculture, impacted farmers have suffered steep economic losses and many have gone out of business.

Watch the press conference here to learn more: 

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