Clean air and water: EPA funding bolsters Gillings research on PFAS in outdoor air
Gillings School researchers receive $799,833 EPA grant for developing methods to detect PFAS and other emerging air pollutants.
Researchers in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health have been awarded a $799,833 grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop new analytical methods that can improve the detection of emerging air pollutants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The research will combine online, high-resolution chemical ionization mass spectrometers with air- and particle-phase sampling techniques.
“Even though PFAS pollution is now recognized to be a major water issue here in North Carolina, less is known about the types, sources and fates of PFAS in N.C. air,” said Jason Surratt, PhD, principal investigator and professor of environmental sciences and engineering. “We do know that air emissions of PFAS from certain sources in N.C. can contaminate private wells from precipitation such as rain. The first two years of this new study will be focused on developing and optimizing our new, real-time analytical methods to detect PFAS in air within N.C. In the last year of this study, we will sample outdoor air near Chemours in Fayetteville, N.C., in order to understand what types of PFAS might be emitted into N.C. air and chemically transformed during meteorological transport to downwind communities.”
The study, “Development of High-Resolution Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Methods for Real-Time Measurement of Emerging Airborne Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS),” will be led by a team of researchers that includes Surratt, Professor and Chair Barbara Turpin, PhD, and Associate Professor Zhenfa Zhang, PhD, from the Gillings School; and Yue Zhang, PhD, and Sarah Brooks, PhD, from Texas A&M University.
This award is part of more than $4.7M in research grants to seven institutions for research to advance measurement and monitoring methods for air toxics and contaminants of emerging concern in the atmosphere.
Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), often referred to as air toxics, are a subset of air pollutants known to cause cancer or other serious health effects. There is extensive evidence that low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to air toxics.
“While we have made great strides in reducing air pollution, there is still more work to be done to protect public health,” said Maureen Gwinn, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research will improve our ability to measure air contaminants and find better strategies for reducing them in the environment.”
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