About This Project

‘Forever chemicals’ (i.e., PFAS) are omnipresent in our lives, where they accumulate in water, soil, crops, animals and us, and are considered toxic at any detectable level by the EPA. We have developed low-cost fluorescent biosensors to detect PFAS in cells, and will adapt this technology to direct detection in liquid and solid samples. The outcome of this project will provide a key tool to help protect people and the planet from PFAS.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The EPA has determined any detectable level of ‘forever chemicals’ (otherwise known as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS) are hazardous to human health, yet there is a lack of accessible and inexpensive testing for consumers. PFAS is common in agricultural inputs; nearly 70% of chemical pesticides contain fluorinated compounds and biosolids containing PFAS are routinely used. A warming planet will contribute to further spread of PFAS through subsurface water, as these compounds become more mobile, ultimately contaminating drinking water as well as urban/residential soils. The EPA, GAO and others have identified new detection methods as critical in controlling the spread and exposure of PFAS, as well as for modeling their transport and environmental fate.

What is the significance of this project?

People currently do not have access to rapid, cost-effective and reliable testing for PFAS. Current analytical testing labs use LC/MS-MS, which is highly accurate, but expensive (>$200 per sample), slow (>5 days), limited to drinking water and not widely available. The Mi’kmaq Tribal Nation (Aroostook County, ME) contacted us to help them test their water, soil and crops located on land from a EPA superfunds site (Loring AFB). We quickly realized that this is a widespread problem, and our initial publications describing our engineered protein biosensor attracted additional interest from USDA and department of environmental protection from multiple states affected. Thus, government, farmers and consumers are all looking for a rapid, accurate and cost-effective method to detect PFAS.

What are the goals of the project?

The major criteria for success of this project are (1) developing a cell-based biosensor for soil, food and water samples, (2) engineering biosensors to detect major PFAS compounds PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS found frequently in the environment at 0.01-1 parts per billon (ppb) levels and (3) automate detection using flow cytometry to reduce time and cost relative to current LC/MS-MS detection methods. The most important goal of this work is to make a biosensor that is cost-effective and easily accessible to all, as PFAS is ubiquitous throughout the environment, linked to climate change and poses major health and environmental risks. Rapid, robust and reliable testing is essential to managing PFAS transport and environmental fate.