PFAS Fund: Research and Grant Opportunities

This study examines how PFAS present in agricultural soils become airborne during tillage events. Contaminants are often concentrated in fine soil particles, which can be lifted into the air as dust, potentially impacting environmental and human health. To understand this process, soil samples from multiple fields will be analyzed to determine how PFAS are distributed across different soil particle sizes. At one site, dust will be collected before, during, and after a field preparation to assess how much and how far contaminants travel. The results will help identify which soil components pose the highest risk for airborne transport and how their PFAS levels can be used to predict potential dust contamination. Findings from this study will provide valuable insights for farmers, researchers, and policymakers working to mitigate the risks of airborne soil contaminants in agricultural settings.

This project aims to investigate whether biochar can be used as a soil amendment to immobilize PFAS in the soil and reduce its bioaccumulation in the edible parts of vegetable crops, such as lettuce and tomatoes. The study will address several key questions: the optimal application rate of biochar in the soil, the frequency with which additional biochar should be applied after the initial amendment, and low-cost modification techniques to enhance biochar's ability to adsorb short-chain PFAS from the soil. This research will involve both laboratory and field studies. The findings will contribute to developing practical guidelines for farmers on the use of biochar in PFAS-affected soils.

Plant uptake from contaminated soils is a major way PFAS compounds enter our food systems. In the case of milk and meat, there is particular concern about uptake of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) by forage crops due to the prevalence and toxicity of PFOS. Being able to accurately predict how much PFOS moves from soil to plants to animals is critical for assessing risk and developing mitigation strategies, but one major factor complicating those predictions is that PFOS, like some other PFAS compounds, can be created through the transformation of "precursor" compounds. Concentrations of these PFOS precursors can vary widely from field to field and could be contributing to the high variability of plant PFOS uptake rates that have been observed. We will conduct paired greenhouse and field studies to assess whether PFOS precursor compounds in soil influence PFOS uptake rates from soil to grass, and to what extent.

One of the first steps in understanding how to manage PFAS on the farm is timely detection. Currently, this first step is burdensome for farms due to the slow turnaround time and high cost of analytical testing. Typically, it takes over a week to obtain test results at a cost of $200-$400 per sample, with multiple samples needed for each study. This proposed research will address this challenge by developing and demonstrating portable electrochemical sensors that can be used for rapid, on-site, and inexpensive testing. These user-friendly devices can be operated by farmers to obtain quick in-house results and determine the level of PFAS in different samples at different locations and times, hence obtaining a better understanding of the contamination issue for a timely response.

The research team seeks to develop strategies to reduce PFAS contamination in livestock animals, which will help protect agricultural integrity, public health, and animal welfare. This study will be conducted on ewes from an already awarded EPA grant, but adding additional samples to model the kinetics of PFAS bioaccumulation and depuration, as well as being able to sample during an entire lactation (beyond 81 days in milk). The first objective will focus on how PFAS moves through the animal's body during gestation, lactation, and depuration (cleaning) after being fed clean feed. The results will guide regulatory measures for PFAS contamination and its impact on animal products such as milk, meat, and eggs. The second objective examines the effects of feeding management practices during the weaning phase. The research will explore how early-life exposure to PFAS affects bioaccumulation of PFAS in animals and the potential for reducing contamination through clean milk replacers.

This project will examine how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on two biosolids-contaminated farms in Maine are transferred to poultry and eggs. We will consider exposures through direct consumption of contaminated soil, insects, earthworms, and airborne dust particles. We will monitor seasonal changes in eggs and test the effectiveness of different coop setup interventions (location changes, dust minimization, platforms, soil barriers) for minimizing PFAS exposure. Data will be used to provide advice for farmers for minimizing PFAS contamination in chickens and eggs and to develop soil screening values protective of public health.

Current PFAS cleanup methods are costly, energy-intensive, fail to fully remove PFAS, damage soil fertility, and create additional environmental waste. This project will use activated carbon coated on a plasma electrode to capture PFAS from soil. After capturing sufficient PFAS onto activated carbon, plasma will be activated to break down the PFAS molecules and refresh the activated carbon. By periodically activating plasma, this method not only destroys the PFAS but also refreshes the carbon's ability to capture PFAS. This approach is expected to deliver key benefits: 1) energy efficiency, by using non-thermal and low-power plasma reactions; 2) long-term effectiveness, by fully breaking down PFAS instead of just trapping them; 3) soil fertility and safety, by avoiding harmful soil disruption and generating nutritious nitrogen species; and 4) sustainability, by reducing waste by periodically refresh activated carbon.