New research aims to detect and mitigate PFAS in agriculture

DAILY Bites

• Over 150 experts from agencies and universities joined forces to address PFAS challenges in agriculture.

• The workshop developed strategies for detecting and reducing PFAS contamination in soils, water, and food systems.

• Plans are underway to create tools and practices to help farmers in areas severely affected by PFAS.

DAILY Discussion

Concerns have been growing over “forever chemicals” in drinking water and beyond. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service as outlined new strategies following a recent workshop aimed at addressing the rising concern of Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in agricultural soils and waters.

With PFAS increasingly detected in the environment, farmers and communities face growing challenges, driving the need for science-based solutions to mitigate the impact on agriculture. ARS says that the workshop focused on developing both short and long-term research approaches to combat these emerging threats.

The Center of Excellence for Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation, and the University of Maine, collaborated recently during a three-day workshop to bring together more than 150 interagency researchers, state partners, university partners, and other subject matter experts to engage in discussion and identify key research and innovative solutions that address the top challenges PFAS poses to agriculture, agroecosystems, food systems, and farming communities.

According to the ARS, many within the agricultural community are facing new challenges when PFAS chemicals are detected within their farms, resulting in this being a new challenge to farmers’ continued capacity to sustain healthy soil and water on their farms, as well as the continued capacity to provide safe and dependable food and fiber supplies to our nation and the world.

The suggested long-term roadmap solutions for improving these circumstances include finding new means of detecting when PFAS contamination is a problem, better understanding of how it moves through the agricultural system, and innovating new ways to interrupt that movement or remove the chemicals before they can do harm.

“The meeting’s focus on the gap between PFAS challenges and solutions has empowered and offered hope to ARS, its partners and sister agencies — to address and resolve agriculture-centric problems arising from the use of PFAS in our communities and everyday consumer products,” said ARS Senior Management Advisor, Dr. David Knaebel. “The workshop’s overarching impact will assist the U.S. agricultural research community and stakeholders to find creative and innovative ways to mitigate and remediate a rapidly growing PFAS challenge in U.S. agriculture and food systems.”

PFAS is a class of man-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries around the globe, including in the United States, since the 1940s. The chemical has been placed in the category of “forever chemicals’ because they bioaccumulate in animals and plants and do not breakdown naturally in the animals or plants or in the environment.

These chemicals in agricultural landscapes can cause food producers numerous challenges that require innovative scientific solutions from agriculture research, research and developments, and strategic partnerships.

“Currently, our data shows that PFAS is an environmental hazard that does not come from agriculture,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Marlen Eve. “But, producers need efficient, cost-effective ways to deal with the challenges when it is detected in our agricultural soils and waters.”

Federal and stakeholder workshop attendees plan to move forward with next steps by crafting documents that will communicate solutions to the ag research community — especially in locations where PFAS has critical impacts on agriculture — and to engage in partnerships to realize those research solutions into impactful tools and practices for producers and the agricultural community.

“The University of Maine is pleased to expand our partnership with USDA ARS to find solutions to this national environmental crisis. With our collective expertise — supported by the ingenuity and resolve of our researchers and students — we can accelerate breakthroughs in basic and applied science that will result in new tools and strategies for protecting food systems in Maine and beyond.” said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation for the University of Maine System and President of the University of Maine.