Some local farmers hope bills to mitigate PFAS contamination in Massachusetts could safeguard their work and protect their lives.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals used in many types of products such as cookware, clothes, artificial turf and firefighting foam. They’re also found in soil and water, and nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they are very difficult to break down.

Other states, such as Maine, have seen PFAS infiltrate soil and food systems through the application of sludge, semi-solid mud derived from sewage that’s used as fertilizer for plants. While there aren’t many known reports of farmers experiencing contamination in Massachusetts, some are concerned about the threat PFAS poses to their health.

“[Sludge] was a cheap fertilizer and companies have promoted it to farmers as a cheap fertilizer,” said Laura Davis, board member of the state chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).

Davis said that while certified organic farmers are not allowed to use sludge on their farms, those who aren’t certified may not be aware that the fertilizer they’re using may contain PFAS.

“It could be a farm that has spread sludge and then, downstream, that water is contaminated and now, that community is contaminated,” she said. “The origination of this contamination is really hard to pinpoint but we do know that all wastewater has PFAS in it.”

NOFA is advocating for the passage of two PFAS bills this session. The first is a proposal by Rep. Kate Hogan, a Stow Democrat, and Sen. Julian Cyr, a Truro Democrat, to ban the sale of products containing PFAS, establish a fund to support the testing and treatment of contaminated drinking water, and create a plan to phase out the use of sludge.

The second is a proposal by Rep. James Arena-DeRosa, a Holliston Democrat, and Sen. Jo Comerford, a Northampton Democrat, to establish an agricultural PFAS relief fund, ban the use of sludge and investigate how the state can dispose of sludge.

“Many of my constituents are aware of PFAS after experiencing the discovery of elevated levels of the chemicals in their drinking water,” Hogan said in a statement. “The experience of these communities was the catalyst for creating the PFAS Interagency Task Force, which I legislated for and co-chaired with Sen. Cyr. The task force’s recommendations became the basis for the legislation we filed.”

A provision from Hogan’s bill that eliminates the use of PFAS in firefighters’ protective gear was passed in a bill signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey last year.

Researchers have linked PFAS chemicals to various cancers. While understanding of PFAS is still relatively limited, scientists have determined two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, are possible human carcinogens, according to the National Cancer Institute.

PFAS is widely used and detected across the country, according to the Environmental Working Group’s interactive PFAS map. The map shows many public and private water drinking systems in eastern Massachusetts are polluted with PFAS. In Franklin County, sites in communities such as Greenfield, Montague, Northfield, Gill, Erving and Sunderland were also identified to have PFAS contamination.

Katherine Reeves, associate dean of graduate and professional studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Public Health, said PFAS is hard to study and even harder for people to understand.

“We’re not talking about one chemical,” she said. “We’re talking about a chemical class that includes thousands of chemicals.”

Reeves said that while so many effects are still unknown, there’s a legion of negative impacts already being explored.

“There’s a lot of laboratory studies out there looking at the effects on cells … all of which suggest that PFAS can have a wide-ranging impact on everything from child neurological development, to cancer rates, obesity, diabetes,” she said.

The Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, managed by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, is one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the country. It does not remove PFAS from the wastewater sewage it receives from 43 state communities.

Instead, it transforms some of it into fertilizer pellets farmers can purchase from the MWRA’s treatment facility in Quincy. The process is a major change from more than 30 years ago, when the MWRA used to discharge much of its sewage into the Boston Harbor.

“There are other products to use for fertilizers that are made of animal products and minerals and other nutrients from the Earth,” Davis said.

Sean Navin, director of public affairs with the MWRA, said in a statement that the agency is actively looking at all legislation that could impact its operations.

“MWRA and DCR have a comprehensive watershed protection program that safeguards our drinking water supply against contaminants like PFAS,” Navin said. “However, the authority is a passive receiver of PFAS in the wastewater system, meaning that these compounds are making their way to the MWRA sewer system. We continue to review all proposals that will help continue to protect our collective water resources.”

Chinanu Okoli writes for the Greenfield Recorder from the Boston University Statehouse Program.