Toxic forever chemicals raise concerns about garden, farm products on Long Island

It was the first week of spring and Deborah Harris, of Riverhead, was visiting her local garden center, where she picked up two bags of fertilizer that she was told worked like a charm to keep deer off her hosta plants.

But after being advised to read the label for the product, Harris discovered the origins of the product were a sewage treatment facility in the Midwest, including the disclosure that it contained biosolids, one of the byproducts of waste treatment.

Harris' usage was for nonfood plants so she said she was torn about what to do.

Scientists say the potential dangers are clear. Some biosolids have been linked to a class of toxic chemicals commonly referred to as forever chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, under the names PFAS and PFOS, among others. Forever chemicals have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, lower antibody response to vaccines, changes in liver enzymes and even increased cholesterol levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some of those chemicals recently turned up in a study of Long Island farm stand vegetables, including those labeled organic. The exact source remains a mystery. Long Island farmers do not use biosolids on their farms. But the study nevertheless heightened concern and raised questions as farmers and gardeners embark on the 2026 growing season.

New York State is working on regulations that would require testing of biosolid products, but it's not just biosolids that are cause for concern. Experts say ubiquitous forever chemicals have so many pathways into garden and farm products that they may be impossible to avoid, even in kitchen and yard waste, which is the primary ingredient in retail compost that doesn't contain biosolids. They point to insecticides and herbicides that are commonly sprayed on lawns, trees and gardens and even the thick plastic bags in which the garden products arrive at retail as possible pathways to exposure. 

And while scientists say much research remains to be done, some studies already have identified pathways. 

"These PFAS compounds are just spreading farther and farther and concentrating more and more and just because they ban them doesn’t mean the problem has gone away," said Walter Hang, president of Environmental Health Research Group Inc., an advocacy organization. 

"We have just not solved this problem in any fashion," he said. "It’s everywhere and it's bioconcentrating in humans, in foodstuffs and cattle, you name it; it’s just a problem of unprecedented proportions because of the toxicity and the incredible persistence and the volume of these compounds that are produced to this very day."

One 2024 study in the journal Environmental Science Processes and Impacts found "significant PFAS contamination in yard-waste compost," which the authors called "a concern given its extensive use in agriculture" and because yard-waste compost is "typically perceived as the purest type of compost." Samples were from municipal compost in the city of Fargo, North Dakota. Plastics incorporated into the compost, presumably from plastic bags used in disposal, also were identified as a concern. 

Yard-waste compost represents a substantial portion of the products sold in big-box retail stores and available from municipal compost heaps, and it's used by home gardeners, landscapers and farms, across the country and on Long Island. Many local farms work with Westbury-based Long Island Compost to host compost windrows on their properties.

Nearly all the compost and garden soils Newsday surveyed at garden centers across the East End did not list biosolids on their ingredients lists or disclaimers.

"Not all biosolids [are] bad," said Long Island Farm Bureau executive director Bill Zalakar, who emphasized that Long Island farms do not apply biosolids to their fields. "That’s where maybe if they did conduct testing of biosolids before they were applied, and they tested OK, then they would be a great source of fertilizer material."

The state regulations under consideration would require the testing of "class A biosolid" products, including certain composts, heat-dried pellets and related products for the presence of PFAS. "The policy is being finalized, and it will cover all biosolids-derived products," the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in a statement to Newsday.

At the same time, the agency said in an email, there are no testing requirements for composts derived from yard waste such as grass and leaves, which make up the vast majority of bagged products sold in retail stores.

Long Island Compost, with its affiliate Scotts Miracle-Gro, is one of the biggest producers of a range of bagged yard amendments in the region. Chief executive Charles Vigliotti said his products steer clear of biosolids, despite years of offers from those who market the amendments to persuade him to use them.

"We’ve had multiple individuals who’ve come to us over the years throwing money at us to take their material," he said. "Absolutely not, we are not touching it. We are not doing anything to jeopardize our organic certification."

Vigliotti said he and Scotts have "an extensive product liability testing procedure and they have always assured us that our compost is of the highest quality."

Tom Matthews, a spokesman for Scotts Miracle-Gro, noted there is currently "no regulatory requirement to test for PFAS in our soil and fertilizer" products.

"While we do not test for PFAS in these finished goods, they are not formulated with PFAS chemicals," he said. "This is because we do not intentionally add PFAS to these products, and we work with our suppliers to verify PFAS is not intentionally added to the inputs used in the manufacture of our soils and fertilizers."

He said the company is "working with partners and trade groups, such as the U.S. Compost Council, to better understand and address the challenges of PFAS contamination in compost given its pervasiveness in the broader environment. We believe that compost is both a valuable waste reduction tool and viable growing media."

Scotts Miracle-Gro does not make products containing biosolids, he said.

The Scotts Co. in December was named in a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Southern California, alleging false advertising of its Miracle-Gro organic soil and fertilizer products. The suit said Scotts "falsely represents that the products are organic even though they contain synthetic, nonorganic and harmful forever chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)." Scotts has filed to dismiss the suit, alleging, among other things, that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue over products "they did not purchase and did not test," according to court filings.

Long Island Compost more than a decade ago moved compost windrow production to remote farms across Long Island after odor and particulate complaints from neighbors and a preliminary state test that found contaminants in groundwater beneath the piles.

The compost is "100% grass clippings, leaves and fruits and vegetables," Vigliotti said, noting those sites are tended to "on a daily basis." 

There may, he said, be "some theoretical stuff that’s floating around if you take in spent apples, and those apples have something in there." 

Vigliotti was listed in the 2024 public filings as a director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which led the study of forever chemicals in farm stand vegetables.

In a review of more than a dozen bags of retail compost, garden soil, top soil and fertilizer, Newsday found only one that openly described its use of biosolids: Milorganite, a product produced by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. 

On its website the company notes it "does not use PFAS in [its] production," but that wastewater reclamation facilities are "passive recipients of PFAS in wastewater" from homes, commercial and industrial sources. The product "meets stringent criteria imposed on any fertilizer product for health, safety, and the environment." 

Deborah Aller, director of the New York Center for Organics Recycling and Education and a senior extension associate at Cornell University, said the onset of spring gets "a lot of people more interested in gardening," and she emphasized that there are many "great benefits to adding organics to your soil," including compost, which "is a really great resource for farmers and homeowners as well."

But on the PFOS front, she noted, "There’s still a lot we don’t know," adding that there are "no formal regulations around testing of PFOS" in other products such as compost and soil amendments. "Active research is happening in this area," she said.

She said there's interest in testing retail bagged products: "We haven’t done any studies on that, but there is interest in actually doing that as well because we know there is concern and we are receiving questions from the community, from stakeholders across the state."

Aller noted that there are PFOS in some products associated with yard compost. "There’s PFOS in plastics," including the bags leaves and grass are sometimes disposed in or sold in at retail. There’s also PFOS in pesticides.

"There’s a lot of pesticide use on Long Island," she said. "For example, if it’s been sprayed on people’s lawns and foliage and then those shrubs or [clippings] are composted, they could have PFOS through those entry points. So there are many other pathways besides biosolids where PFOS can enter the equation."

Because many bagged retail products list a variety of sources for their composts and soils, she said, "It’s tricky when you go to boxed retailers and you really don’t know what you’re getting. ... It’s hard to know without testing a product yourself if it contains contaminants."

Aller said gardeners can "reach out to companies directly and ask if they have tested for contaminants, if they have any reports they can share so they can be better informed before they are buying a product."

Products labeled organic won't use biosolids, she noted. However, the thick plastic bags that the products are sold in is one potential area of study, Aller said.

"Certainly if things are sitting in plastic bags in high temperatures during the summer there is the potential of compounds leaching from those plastics," she said.

Nora Catlin, director of Cornell’s Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, said much remains to be studied and reported.

Cornell’s extension offices routinely conduct basic soil pH and salinity tests for gardeners. More rigorous tests of nutrients are recommended to be sent to outside commercial labs. Tests for the presence of forever chemicals can cost $300 to $500 per sample, she said, adding Cornell is reviewing tests of biosolid applications. 

"I think that’s something we’ll be looking at," she said. Among recommendations for homeowners is to use "extreme caution" when considering biosolid-containing products. As an alternative "consider not using them or testing prior to use."

She urged gardeners to read the ingredient list and source information on the back of the bags, and "use caution with anything that says biosolids on it."

Some observers are pointing to limitations in the recent Long Island farm stand test. For instance, the tests showing PFAS in vegetables purchased from those farm stands didn’t make clear whether any of the samples came from farms not on Long Island. Farm stands commonly buy vegetables their farms do not grow, and some buy from out of state or even international sources, said Zalakar, of the Long Island Farm Bureau.

In responses to Newsday questions, Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which helped gather the samples and led a webinar on its results, said the practice was news to her.

"We were unaware that local farms import vegetables from other regions, states and countries," she said. "I believe the public would also be shocked to know this. There was no signage suggesting the vegetables were not from the farm."

But Esposito insisted the origin of the vegetables was "not relevant."

Zalakar said the practice is a normal part of farm stand operations depending on seasons and the growing practices of farms. Some open year-round can only survive the winter by bringing in vegetables.

A Stony Brook University spokesman provided a statement from a person affiliated with the study defending its findings but acknowledging its limitations.

"Given our role on the testing side, we are not in a position to comment on how representative those samples are," the statement said. "In addition, we are conducting further studies, and once the full data set has been compiled, we will share the results with the appropriate agencies."

George Proios, former chairman of the Suffolk County Soil and Water District, the Long Island Water Commission and the Brookhaven Department of Environmental Protection, expressed skepticism of the products at retail.

"There’s no way of knowing what the hell you’re buying," he said. "There’s nobody looking at it," he added, pointing to the DEC’s lack of independent testing. His solution: He makes his own compost in his Tennessee backyard.