‘Screamingly High’ Levels of PFAS in Common Insecticides, New Study Finds

By Olivia Rosane | EcoWatch | October 7, 2022

Read the full article by Olivia Rosane (EcoWatch)

"Pesticides have been linked to a host of environmental and public health harms, from the insect apocalypse to cancer.

Now, a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters gives another reason to avoid insecticides in particular: they may contain the toxic forever chemicals known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). The research found the PFAS known as Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in six out of 10 insecticides tested at levels hundreds of thousands of times higher than the safety levels for drinking water set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“[T]he level of PFAS absorption by plants detected in this study suggests that this exposure pathway poses a major threat to the safety of our food supply,” Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Executive Director Tim Whitehouse wrote in a letter to EPA administrator Michael Regan. “For this reason, it is quite possible that PFAS in our food is a bigger PFAS exposure pathway than water.”