PFAS in fertilisers blamed for killing livestock in Texas and wreaking havoc
107 points by chiffre01 4 months ago | 38 comments- e40 4 months ago> Synagro has denied that its fertilisers have harmed the health of farmers or livestock and is contesting the lawsuit.
Sign of the times. Deny, deny, deny, and maybe all the people suing you will die or run out of money.
- Aurornis 4 months ago> Sign of the times. Deny, deny, deny,
Not really a sign of the times. Innocent until proven guilty isn't a new concept. The burden of proof is on the people suing to show that PFAS both came from the fertilizer and is the cause of the issues.
The article mentions that microplastics was another theory. It's not encouraging when the leading theories appear to be plucked out of current trends for scary chemicals.
- giantg2 4 months agoIt would have been interesting if the article if the article gave prior concentrations as a baseline, such as when cattle died in WV from PFAS. Without a baseline it's hard to say. However, the levels being referenced in the calfs and the timing of the fish kills seems to indicate that a preponderance of the evidence supports the claims. In civil trials, it just has to be more likely than not.
- johntitorjr 4 months ago> The article mentions that microplastics was another theory
The mention of microplastics was in relation to why the piles of biosolids were smoking. Speculation that heat from composting was burning microplastic particles.
Breathing burning plastic and ingesting large amounts of PFAS can both be harmful at the same time. The 'micro' part is irrelevant, you don't want to breath burning plastic regardless of the size of the particles burning.
Polluting your neighbor's property IS NOT OK. Normally externalities are more ambiguous, but this is literally polluting your neighbor's land. This isn't just a failure of our laws, this a failure of a community.
- linotype 4 months ago[flagged]
- Psillisp 4 months agoYour broccoli has always had Freedom Flavor
- Psillisp 4 months ago
- giantg2 4 months ago
- bsder 4 months agoThis is not new.
Ref: The Johnstown Flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood
- gruez 4 months agoThat's not really comparable because in the case of the flood, the damage was unambiguously tied to the dam bursting. That's not the case here. While I'm sure there's a non-zero amount of PFAS from the fertilizer that leeched into the nearby soil, it hasn't been established what its contribution was. This is closer to suing the local factory because you got lung cancer.
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- gruez 4 months ago
- mschuster91 4 months ago[flagged]
- immibis 4 months agoWe should not support terrorists on Hacker News.
- asacrowflies 4 months agoWe should have discourse on people who are major players in the general Zeitgeist tho.... And as far as I know the terrorist charges being ABSURD is one the reasons he has so much public support....
Saying we shouldn't support ANYONE the government ACCUSES of being terrorists seems like a pretty nasty slippery slope...
- giraffe_lady 4 months agoMaybe should not but as long as I can remember we have. Individual terrorists have always had a bit of a following on here.
The unabomber has always been popular here, I saw his manifesto mentioned as recommend reading several times over the years. When he died the comments were initially neutral-to-positive, some even openly admiring. Sentiment shifted but is still very very far from consensus condemnation. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36272409
When israel booby trapped pagers and detonated them in public places, injuring thousands of civilians, HN came out overwhelmingly in favor of this attack. There is certainly some quibbling in the comments about the precise definition of "terrorism" vs "war crime" and people did fight against the consensus. But again it is extremely striking how favorably those actions were viewed here vs in less america- and tech-centric venues. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41567299https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41580205
Anyway just a couple of recent examples. I don't think this is a good thing, but for better or worse this is a place where quite a lot of people support (some) terrorists.
- infamouscow 4 months agoI thought we believed in the principle of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law by a jury of one's peers.
If you don't, that's fine, but I'm going to label you as a terrorist since you clearly see no problem doing it.
So here we go: by fiat, you're a terrorist. Congrats! Hopefully other astute readers will perform their civic duty and report you to local and federal LEOs. /s
- asacrowflies 4 months ago
- immibis 4 months ago
- Aurornis 4 months ago
- paulbaumgart 4 months agoThis doesn't address the underlying problem, but if this is something you'd like to avoid as a consumer, it's worth noting that sewage sludge is not permitted for use in growing organic produce:
> A very important part of the process-based regulatory framework is the prohibition of certain methods in organic production and handling. Methods like irradiation, sewage sludge, and genetic engineering are all expressly prohibited from being used when growing or processing organic foods.
https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/organic-101-what-o...
- ashoeafoot 4 months agoAnd it can be used upfield though so the groundwater carries the dirt into organic fields. Many of these "rules" are written like physics stops at some arbitrary line. To be honest "organic" is a bit of a joke in the farming community , as their fields tend to "hug" coventional fields to prevent a fungi overgrowth .
And we all know agrarian traders who get certified "organic" stuff from countries were any seal or certificate is just a bribe away.
- euroderf 4 months ago> fungi overgrowth
Can you elucidate ?
- ashoeafoot 4 months agoAll plants i know get fungi, especially late in the dry and ripen stage.It reduces yield, is toxic and carcinogenic. So fungizides are deployed during the plants lifetime to keep the contamination in check and the product healthwise unproblematic. Organic farming does not have that option. So the fungi rate of some organic farms approaches a total loss. So they hug conventional farms to get the fungizide floatsome for a better result.
- ashoeafoot 4 months ago
- euroderf 4 months ago
- giantg2 4 months agoEspecially with all the junk (including meds) that goes down a sewer, I wouldn't want sewage sludge used.
- ashoeafoot 4 months ago
- Aurornis 4 months agoThe actual complaint is available here: https://peer.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024.02.27-First...
Not a lawyer and I didn't read with a fine-tooth comb, but I didn't see any smoking gun.
The complaint shows high quantities of PFAS measured on a farm, then it jumps to a section that says those PFAS were "also found" in a sample of the fertilizer used. The catch is that the concentration of those PFAS is measured in parts per trillion (ppt). Not a lawyer, but I feel like this is an uphill battle to show that the "smoking fertilizer" that caused the breathing problems is linked to PFAS contamination in groundwater at a different site at high concentrations.
Something to keep in mind is that modern equipment is very good at finding very small quantities of compounds. When you're able to measure down to parts per trillion you can start finding some level of various compounds in basically every water sample you test.
- lazide 4 months agoNear as we can tell, the levels of PFAS (depending on the compound!) or microplastics to actually be causitively fatal to a farm animal - especially on the timescales of their typical lifespan - would be mind boggling. Like drinking-from-the-outlet-of—a-teflon-factory likely wouldn’t even do it.
The concern everyone has been having is that these compounds may be (evidence at current known exposure levels still iffy!) causing long term cancer risk increases or interfering with hormones.
That is not even in the same ballpark of ‘dies in 3-5 years’.
- Centigonal 4 months ago> the levels of PFAS (depending on the compound!) or microplastics to actually be causitively fatal to a farm animal - especially on the timescales of their typical lifespan - would be mind boggling. Like drinking-from-the-outlet-of—a-teflon-factory likely wouldn’t even do it.
Counterexample: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2022/07/11/persistent-farmer-...
- lazide 4 months agoPaywall :(
- lazide 4 months ago
- Centigonal 4 months ago
- lazide 4 months ago
- sebmellen 4 months agoJohnson County is not in the middle of nowhere, Texas. It’s just about 30 minutes south of DFW.
- more_corn 4 months agoIt is well known that biosolids are full of PFAs and that they bio accumulate and cause organ failure.
The science is clear.
- 9283409232 4 months agoThe mass deregulation the Trump admin is proposing is just going to make this worse for everyone.
- lazide 4 months agoPFAS and microplastics are not good, and likely bad.
But the sheer quantity that would be required to actually kill livestock in anything resembling a clear and causative timeframe is mind boggling.
Like 10% by weight or something, likely, if not more.
That seems either really unlikely to be true, or such gross malfeasance that it’s gonna be hell to pay.
pulls out popcorn
- aaron695 4 months ago[dead]
- cytocync 4 months ago[dead]
- yimby2001 4 months agoa cow could drink a can of 80s scotch guard and not die from the pfas, what a nonsense article