Michigan beef found to contain dangerous levels of ‘forever chemicals’

Cattle from a small south-east Michigan farm that sold beef to schools and at farmers' markets in the state have been found to contain dangerous levels of PFAS, so-called "forever chemicals" that can pose a serious risk to human health.

The news comes after consumer groups in 2019 warned that using PFAS-laden sewage sludge as fertilizer would contaminate dairy, beef, crops and other food products. However, at the time a Michigan agricultural regulator publicly assured the state's dairy farmers her agency wouldn't test milk for the toxic chemicals as they didn't want to inflict economic pain on the $15bn industry, she said.

Now just over two years later, consumer groups say their fears may have come true.

Michigan discovered the contamination because it tests sewage sludge for PFAS more than any other state, but officials have downplayed the incident as "isolated" and for now won't conduct further testing on livestock, dairy or crops.

"It's not enough - we need a lot more monitoring of our agriculture to make sure we're keeping toxic chemicals out of our food supply," said Christy McGillivray, executive director of Sierra Club of Michigan.

Sludge isn't the only route PFAS takes into the nation's food. It's also found in pesticides, rain, packaging and water used on crops, and testing is increasingly finding the chemicals in vegetables, seafood, meat, dairy and processed foods. Consumer groups say regulators are failing to keep the dangerous compounds out of food, a problem highlighted by the Michigan contamination.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of over 9,000 compounds that are used to make products heat, water and stain resistant. They are dubbed "forever chemicals" because they don't naturally break down, and they are so effective that they are used in thousands of products across dozens of industries.