Location: New England Center for Sustained Soil and Water Health
2025 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1. Evaluate the transfers of PFAS in agricultural soils and waters in order to leverage opportunities to interrupt or optimize those processes to mitigate and remediate contamination. (C1, PS1C; C3, PS3E)
Objective 2. Evaluate the uptake of PFAS by different varieties of the common crops, to evaluate if some varieties offer resilience to PFAS uptake into edible tissues. Evaluate management approaches for those crops that enhance this resilience. (C1, PS1C; C3, PS3E)
Objective 3. Evaluate the uptake and metabolism (ADME) of PFAS into livestock and poultry, especially those favored by small to medium sized farms to evaluate opportunities for management or feed changes that result in less uptake and accumulation in edible tissues. (C1, PS1C; C3, PS3E)
Objective 4. Evaluate the socio-economic impacts of PFAS on agricultural communities and to understand the impact of PFAS on food marketability. (C1, PS1C; C2, PS2D; C3, PS3E)
Objective 5. Evaluate the persistence of PFAS in agricultural soils from Maine and elsewhere and implement novel amendment strategies to degrade or to immobilize PFAS in those soils. (C1, PS1C; C2, PS3C)
Approach
Our nation is currently facing an emerging, holistic, environmental contaminant problem arising from a class of chemicals that are presenting human, animal, plant, and environmental health challenges. These contaminants –referred to as “forever chemicals”—are part of a large group of lab-made perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are very slow to break down in animals, plants, and in the environment. PFAS have been found in soils and source waters on many farms and have been shown to bioaccumulate in agricultural animals and plants. They have been linked to several negative health impacts, including cancer. Critical research on PFAS is needed to understand, interrupt and manage their fate and transport in agricultural systems and to more fully understand and counter the negative economic impacts of PFAS on agricultural communities and rural social networks.
The formation of the PFAS Center of Excellence will allow researchers to migiate threats to human, animal, plant, soil, and water health. Partnerships and collaborations with other ARS locations and universities will be key to solving the negative impacts of PFAS and its effects on social communities. Working with stakeholders and farmers will also help support ongoing research efforts.
Progress Report
Establishment of the new per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Center of Excellence, now designated as the New England Center for Sustained Soil and Water Health, as well as the research programs to conduct the needed work on evaluating the movement, transfer, and uptake of PFAS in agricultural soils, plants, animals, and the environment, and potential remediation strategies, are still in the early stages of development.
An ARS researcher in Orono, Maine, is currently in the process of collecting and analyzing soil samples from ongoing cropping system studies for PFAS content and potential differences among long-term management practices as a first step toward use and evaluation of different soil and crop management practices in the remediation of PFAS in agricultural soils. A portion of funds from this project was temporarily allocated to Riverside, California, for the study of PFAS fate and transport in agricultural systems during FY25. As such, researchers in Riverside, California, have conducted studies on (i) the removal of PFAS from recycled water using biochar filtration systems, (ii) effects of genotype on the uptake and translocation of PFAS by both Artemesia annua and spinach, (iii) transfers of PFAS from Artemesia annua leaves to medicinal tea, (iv) effects of modified biochars on the uptake of biosolids-borne and recycled water-borne PFAS by spinach, (v) uptake and biodegradation of PFAS by earthworms, and (vi) mitigation of PFAS leaching from soil using biochar. Please see Riverside's FY25 annual report for project 2036-61000-019-000D for further details of this work.
A portion of funds from this project was temporarily allocated to Fargo, North Dakota, to supplement ongoing PFAS research. Researchers at the Fargo, ND location have studied the pharmacokinetic parameters related to uptake and bioaccumulation of PFAS in livestock animals (most recently broiler chickens and laying hens) and the use of feed additives to prevent livestock contamination or remediate contaminated livestock. Additionally, work is ongoing to update analytical methods for detection of PFAS in food to increase the number of compounds analyzed and decrease the detection limits in the multitude of food matrices that are analyzed. Collaborations have been established with University of Maine to continue PFAS research for other livestock species and to determine additional feed additives that can aid remediation of contaminated livestock. Please see Fargo's FY25 annual report for project 3060-32420-003-000D for further details of this work.
The full project plan that will outline and direct these research efforts is currently being developed for review and implementation in FY26. Progress in filling open positions on the project have been delayed. Once fully implemented, this research will provide critical research to understand and manage the fate, transport, and remediation of PFAS in agricultural systems and improve agricultural communities and rural social networks.
Accomplishments