01/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/16/2025 13:31
A new study from Binghamton University will look at the combined effects of two pollutants on the Mohawk River, a major supplier of drinking water for upstate New York.
Assistant Professor Yuxin Wang - a faculty member at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science's School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering - will lead the project to examine the blending of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics in nature. The U.S. Geological Survey is funding the research with a $70,000 grant through the New York Water Resources Institute, and Assistant Professor Kelly Good from Villanova University will serve as co-investigator.
PFAS are a class of chemicals resistant to heat, oil, water and grease, and they are used in hundreds of products as diverse as carpets, shampoo, paint, food packaging, nonstick cooking surfaces and mobile phone screens. Because they are persistent in the environment and can build up in living tissue, they are sometimes called "forever chemicals," and some types of PFAS have been associated with serious health effects such as liver damage, thyroid disease, obesity, fertility issues and cancer.
Microplastics - small pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters in length - have become similarly ubiquitous, and they are a major concern because they are difficult to remove and can accumulate in the environment.
The two contaminants have been researched separately, but few studies have examined how they might multiply their toxic effects on humans and the ecosystem.
In April 2024, the Biden administration issued the first-ever national drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to PFAS, which included $1 billion to implement testing and treatment at public water systems and to help owners of private wells address contamination. The funding is part of a $9 billion investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities with drinking water affected by PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
"We want to quantify the most abundant kinds of microplastic and PFAS contaminants in the Mohawk River from the source water all the way to where it meets the Hudson, and also how they interact with each other," Wang said. "The interaction will have combined toxicity for fish and for the ecosystem."
The Mohawk is important to study, she added, because it supplies one-third of the drinking water to the Hudson River. To make maximum use of the water samples, Assistant Professor Jennifer Goss from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry also will track levels of bacteria and metals.
As part of the collaboration, PhD students from Wang's lab will visit Villanova to learn more about microplastic research, and Good's students will come to Binghamton for similar experience with PFAS.
"We want our students to have more technical skills for analyzing our work, because there's not just one group of contaminants in the environment," Wang said. "By experiencing a different research group and a different technique, it helps them to understand the project better."
Although much of Wang's work looks at energy systems and their environmental impacts, she earned her PhD at Carnegie Mellon University studying drinking-water quality and was part of recent research into white foam forming on New York's Finger Lakes.