Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID KS_2024_Hutchinson

BIOSAFE: Quantifying bioaccumulation of PFAS in photosynthetic organisms for safe reservoir management

Institute: Kansas
USGS Grant Number:
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2027-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $310,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $310,001

Principal Investigators: Justin M. Hutchison

Project Summary: This work will leverage ongoing research work in sorption of PFAS to naturally occurring materials to evaluate the potential of PFAS to sorb into and accumulate in photosynthetic biomass, in particular cyanobacteria. Through three objectives, the work will identify the preferential sorption of long-chain PFAS into actively growing and mature cultures and mixed photosynthetic communities. The effort will determine the fate of bioaccumulated PFAS in photosynthetic organisms under natural decay and engineered-lytic conditions. The project will also include training for the next generation of researchers, including opportunities for graduate and undergraduate researchers. A full professor will mentor junior faculty members in cross-disciplinary, translational research.