UAlbany continues PFAS research with EPA funding

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -UAlbany is trying to find ways to prevent contamination from PFAS; forever chemicals that can cause serious health risks. A $1.6 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant will help keep the college labs up-to-date to handle all the work.

Almost everywhere and everyone has had some level of PFAS inside of them according to the CDC. The chemicals have been used by manufacturers worldwide since the 1940s: from clothes and cosmetics to paints and firefighting foams.

"In the Capital Region, I'm not sure if you've heard about Hoosick Falls. Back in 2017, that village; one of the PFAS compounds, PFOA, was found in their drinking water," said Yanna Liang, Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental & Sustainable Engineering.

Researchers have been growing a variety of plants, like grasses and soy, in different soils that contain PFAS. The hope is those plants will soak up the chemicals from the soil and potentially reverse decades of contamination. "In that way, we come to know how much PFAS has been translocated from the soil to the plants," described Aswin Kumar ILango, Research Scientist.

The research could help farms clear out any PFAS contamination in their fields. Professor Yanna Liang and her team may be able to "prescribe" certain plants to certain farmers depending on what chemicals are in the ground and water.

New technology is helping to crunch the data. "Regarding PFAS, there is possibly 15,000 different chemical structures. So, AI is going to take all of this data and try to find a trend," explained Liang.