WEST-led PFAS National Collaborative Study gets off the ground

The PFAS National Collaborative Study, coordinated by a team at WEST Center, is designed to evaluate the incidence and mobility of PFAS in soils with a history of land application of biosolids. PIs include University of Arizona’s Dr. Ian Pepper and Dr. Marc Brusseau, and Greg Kester, Director of the Renewable Resource Program at the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA).

The project has support from around the country and was fully launched with the beginning of soil sampling at two sites in Arizona in October 2022.

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Recent Accomplishments:

• Pledges from 30 organizations around the country for project work.
• Site selection is underway. Twenty-five sites have been identified, with 14 confirmed.
• Sites are in 17 states in all major regions of the country.
• Soil sampling of the first two sites was completed in Tucson, with PFAS analysis in progress.
• To ensure systematic sampling across all sites with minimal PFAS contamination, a 20-minute instructional video detailing sampling protocols was developed and is available for viewing.
• Personnel is being hired (50% FTE) for data management and modeling.

This is an ambitious project - national in scope - and important for understanding whether or not land application of municipal biosolids is a significant source of human PFAS exposure.
Further donations and/or opportunities for additional sites are welcome.
 

To hear an interview with Dr. Ian Pepper about testing for PFAS, listen to Arizona Public Media (AZPM)’s Arizona Science Episode 342: The hunt for hidden water contaminants.