Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2023_NJ_Li

Molecular-level investigation of distribution and transformation of per-and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aquifers impacted by multiple contaminant sources

Institute: New Jersey
USGS Grant Number:
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2026-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $279,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $279,001

Principal Investigators: Mengyan Li

Project Summary: PFAS are water contaminants with emerging health concerns. This project creates a new approach to detect PFAS in water and other environments, which can be complementary to existing approaches standardized by EPA. We will identify PFAS chemicals, particularly those are of high detection frequency and exceedance to EPAs health advisory levels. We will explore how these dominant PFAS species are distributed in the subsurface and naturally degraded by native microorganisms. This project is expected to engage one postdoc, one graduate student, and three or more undergraduate and high school students to participate in PFAS-related research. This proposal involves a strong education component that fosters the training of nextgeneration environmental scientists with current state of knowledge and skillsets for the increasing demand in the tri-state area and beyond.