A story in Oklahoma Watch reports the recent discovery of a so-called “forever” chemical compound in the air of northern Oklahoma and an attempt is made to link it to the spreading of biosolids or human waste on land.
The Energy Department made the discovery through one of its atmospheric monitoring stations located in the town of Lamont and east of Blackwell. As Oklahoma Watch reported the station “sniffed out a compound never before detected in the air over North America. And it’s toxic.”
The news group reported the discovery was made by scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder. The surprising discovery was of what are called MCCPs or Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins which are compounds used in high-temperature lubricants, PVC pipes, flame retardants and the production of rubber and paint and other substances.
MCCPs have been linked to liver and kidney damage and have been banned by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants which is an international treaty organization.
“We can definitely say that it’s there, but there’s still a lot of questions that are unanswered from the work that we did,” explained Daniel Katz, one of the CU scientists who made the discovery.
“I guess what I would say, in general terms, is that we found something very unexpected that we weren’t looking for and we hadn’t designed the study around.”
What remains a puzzle to the scientists is what was the source of the compound found in the air of northcentral Oklahoma near the Kansas border? What caused the toxin to be there?
“We have no direct evidence that’s where it was coming from. There have been measurements in the UK and in China that have shown these compounds do exist in biosolid fertilizers, and so they can be a source,” but added, “We can’t directly show that.”
The study, published in June 2025, appeared briefly in a science publication and disappeared without a trace. Then, last week, Science Daily ran the story.
Since the topic of biosolid fertilizer was raised, it is sure to add fuel to the renewed effort in the Oklahoma legislature to do a deep-dive study of the impact of spreading treated human waste on farm fields and pastures in central Oklahoma. Rep. Jim Shaw has tried unsuccessfully to fight the practice but last week, as OK Energy Today followed, a State Senate Energy Committee approved a proposed bill offered by Sen. Grant Green, R-Wellston. He had been a previous opponent of the issue but admitted he had changed his stance after seeing certain studies on the treated waste.
The bill, HB3411, was approved 8-2 by the Energy Committee in support of a Do-Pass for the bill with Sens. Rader and Jo Anna Dossett, D-Tulsa, voting no.
Prior to the vote, Energy Committee members heard testimony from Chris Browning, Utilities Director and General Manager of the Oklahoma Water Utilities Trust which runs Oklahoma City’s large wastewater treatment plants. He explained that there are no federal regulations governing contaminants such as PFOA and PFOS or “forever chemicals.”