A decade has passed since I first heard the term “PBDEs.” At the time, a Virginia scientist infered that the source of this compound in marine sediments was from land application of biosolids. An article this month in ES&T, based on the vigorous response by the scientific community, has now put the issue in perspective. Biosolids is nowhere to be found in the article, as household dust and widespread atmospheric deposition on animal-grazed fields are now understood to be major sources. While the biosolids profession may be the unwitting recipients of the residuals from manufactured goods, all too often the profession takes the public blame for its presence in the environment. Against this tendency we need to have a strategy that deploys sound science and risk assessment, and one that anticipates, rather than merely reacts to, issues of public concern.