Penn State researchers recently published a study in the Agronomy Journal that found that forever chemicals or PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a class of more than 4,700 fully synthetic compounds used in industrial and manufacturing processes and present in many consumer goods, persist through wastewater treatment at levels that may influence the long-term viability of "beneficial reuse of treated wastewater which helps with water shortages." Many everyday items, from clothing and furnishings to food packaging and non-stick grilling surfaces, are made with PFAS, or "forever chemicals," because they are utilized in the production of fluoropolymer coatings. Penn State associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering Heather Preisendanz remarked, "forever chemicals are so pervasive and persistent that they have been identified in the environment all over the world, even in isolated regions." To quote the article: "Unfortunately, these compounds have been found to negatively impact ecological and human wellness, particularly because they can absorb nutrients up the food chain and impact development in children, boost the risk of cancer, contribute to high cholesterol levels, interfere with women's fertility, and weaken immune systems." According to Preisendanz, PFAS are a problem since they can be found in wastewater from homes and factories. Reusing cleaned wastewater for non-potable applications like irrigation is called "beneficial reuse," and it is becoming more popular. According to Preisendanz, this method allows the soil to serve as an additional filter for forever chemicals, mitigating the immediate effects of direct discharge of PFAS to surface water, as would occur after conventional wastewater treatment. The risks and possible tradeoffs of using treated wastewater for irrigation are not well understood, especially in the long term, due to the difficulty of degrading the chemical structures of PFAS. Since treated wastewater is often used for irrigation purposes in agricultural fields, it is essential to understand the related costs and benefits. "forever chemicals are now taken up by crop production and can enter the whole food chain whenever we eat these crops," she said. Water that was treated at a water reclamation facility was tested for its PFAS concentration by Preisendanz and her team. Before and following treatment, samples of the water were taken every other month from autumn 2019 through winter 2021. The team also collected tissues from nearby crop plants, such as corn silage and tall fescue, to evaluate the presence of forever chemicals, as treated water from the wastewater used in the treatment plant to irrigate those crops. The team discovered ten distinct PFAS at the site, with concentrations as high as 155 ng/L (nanograms for every liter) in the downstream monitoring wells. Based on the results, forever chemicals are present almost everywhere on the site, and their concentrations rise in the path of groundwater flow.   According to Preisendanz, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued revised health advisories for two of the most significant PFAS, PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), such that "any detectable level is a very great risk to entre human health." This could pose various issues for reusing wastewater. Although the team found no forever chemicals compounds in groundwater close to the spray-irrigation site they studied, they found several in crop tissue samples collected from irrigated and non-irrigated parts of the site. According to Preisendanz, "this implies that forever chemicals may enter the whole food chain when these crops are supplied to livestock," adding that more research is needed to determine the risks to livestock health and the implications of PFAS presence in meat and dairy, including milk. This study's findings have vital implications to guarantee that beneficial wastewater reuse initiatives achieve intended goals to reuse water while at the same time achieving PFAS levels are fully secure from a human health perspective."