Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2023_RI_Lohmann

Atmospheric transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and its impact on surface water contamination

Institute: Rhode Island
USGS Grant Number:
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2024-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $276,719 Total Non-Federal Funds: $277,068

Principal Investigators: Rainer Lohmann

Project Summary: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of emerging contaminants of concern that pose a threat to environmental and human health. Early work focused on the problems PFAS pose to drinking water, with little attention paid to atmospheric transport and deposition. Here we propose research to better understand the atmospheric fate and transport of PFAS, and their impact on surface waters. In particular, we propose to use novel passive sampling tools to interrogate the presence of PFAS at multiple sites in air and water simultaneously, without needing power supply. These sampling tools will be deployed alongside established active monitoring networks for validation and integration, and be used to determine PFAS in atmosphere and surface waters covering rural to urban sites. Overall the proposed research will help improve our understanding of the presence of PFAS in the atmosphere and their deposition to waters while testing novel detection tools.