The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $1.6 million of taxpayer money each to Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University to research the effects of PFAS on farmland and livestock.
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called “forever chemicals.”
A&M will research PFAS bioaccumulation in plants, while Tech will investigate “potential non-traditional PFAS sources” in farming.
“Farming communities are the lifeblood of this nation,” Christopher Frey, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development, told WFAA. “The research supported by these grants will increase our knowledge of how PFAS is impacting our farmlands and food supply and help ensure our farming communities stay viable for years to come.”
The issue of PFAS has become increasingly relevant to Texans in recent months.
Ranchers and farmers recently convened at a Van Zandt County meeting to raise their concerns and try to stop a fellow landowner from spreading biosolids, a technical term for “sewage sludge,” on over 200 acres in the county, WFAA reported.
Biosolids are a concern because they can contain concentrations of PFAS. Humans consume PFAS from their cookware, and, as a recent Alicia Silverstone bamboo toilet paper ad reminded Americans, it is also present in toilet paper.
PFAS are carcinogenic and are closely related to the fireman cancer epidemic, part of which has been tied to firefighter turnout gear, The Dallas Express previously reported. PFAS are dangerous to humans at nearly every level of consumption.
Under significant political pressure, including from people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Biden-Harris Administration ordered new EPA regulations that will strictly limit the tolerable amount of PFAS in drinking water starting next year. This has created myriad issues for municipal leaders as they struggle to comply with the law, DX reported.
Even before the current EPA grants, Texas universities have led research on PFAS contamination.
Professor San Hwang sat down with DX earlier this spring to discuss his work at Texas State University, seeking to draw “a link between the PFAS in [firemen’s gear] wash water and their health-related issues.” This effort has prompted a $3.52 million grant from the Department of Energy and will bring groundbreaking PFAS detection technology and jobs to the San Marcos area.