Volume 70, Issue 1

This month, we’ll look at two new studies probing how reused waste contributes to PFAS exposure in the environment, both published as part of the upcoming Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) special section, “PFAS in Agroecosytems: Sources, Impacts, and Opportunities for Mitigating Risks to Human and Ecological Health.”

In one article, researchers tested how PFAS accumulate in corn and grass that is spray-irrigated with reused wastewater. In the other, they tested how biosolids applied to rejuvenate poor quality soils affected PFAS concentrations in soil leachate and evaluated a potentially low-cost, low-effort solution to mitigate PFAS concentrations—blending biosolids with wood mulch.

Cover: Backdrop image: Loading biosolids into a spreader for land application (photo by SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons). Inset, left: Researchers applying biosolids (photo by Odiney Alvarez-Campos and courtesy of Linda Lee). Inset, right:  Wastewater treatment plant (photo courtesy of Flickr/Montgomery County Planning Commission).