Teaming for Interdisciplinary Research Pre-Seed Program

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of anthropogenic chemicals with highly fluorinated aliphatic carbon chains that have been used in industrial and commercial products extensively since the 1940s. The four primary PFAS sources described by the Interstate Technology Research Council are industrial sites, landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and fire training sites. Concern about PFAS as persistent environmental contaminants has increased in recent years due to their widespread use, resistance to degradation, high mobility in ecosystems, and potential health risks to humans and wildlife. PFAS are a class of anthropogenic chemicals with highly fluorinated aliphatic carbon chains that have been used in industrial and commercial products extensively since the 1940s. Since PFAS have been accumulated in biological tissues of invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and human beings, they pose potential risks to the ecosystem and public health.

More than 600 different PFAS species have been reported in active use over the past decade, yet there is no toxicological information available for most of those compounds. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) published an Action Plan on PFAS in February 2019 to discuss the source identification and risk communication of these compounds. Toxic effects of PFAS, such as the carcinogenic effects, have been explored and reported, but most of these studies linked the toxicological, occupational, community, and/or general population exposure to the long-chain PFAS species. Data gaps remain around the toxic impacts of many short-chain PFAS species, certain structural functional groups, and the newly released species. Limitations in existing epidemiologic studies also include differences in reporting endpoints and different approaches for estimating PFAS exposure. Future toxicological and epidemiologic studies are urgently needed to address data gaps related to cancer pathways that are highly likely to be impacted by PFAS.

This interdisciplinary team (PFAS-HEALTH) aims to fill crucial data gaps with respect to the carcinogenic effects caused by the exposure of PFAS in wildlife and humans. Specifically, we propose to assemble an interdisciplinary team of scientists with diverse backgrounds in toxicology, epidemiology, molecular science, biochemistry, and environmental sciences to interact collaboratively to achieve the following objectives: (A) discuss the current toxicological studies on PFAS and related data gaps, (B) discuss the in vitro and in vivo experimental designs to study PFAS toxicity, (C) discuss the in vivo experimental design to study PFAS toxicity, and (D) develop collaborative teams of faculty from the Savannah River Ecology Lab and the main UGA campus to pursue external funding proposals.

Team Lead

Wentao Li
College of Public Health
wentao.li@uga.edu

Team Members

Olin Rhodes
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Xiaoyu Xu
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Kaixiong Ye
Department of Genetics

Jia-Sheng Wang
College of Public Health

Mary Goll
Department of Genetics

Zeinah Elhaj Baddar
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory