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STEEP Newsletter 2024 Issue 2
Voices from STEEP
“What do dental floss, firefighting foam, and tap water all have in common? PFAS! Listen to learn about the health effects of these ‘forever chemicals’ that accumulate in the human body, and things we can do to protect ourselves from further exposure.”
STEEP Project 3 lead Angela Slitt was featured on a podcast episode for The Regimen, where pharmacists, pharmacy students, and their guests discuss the latest public health issues and their solutions. Listen in.
Features
Welcome to My [PFAS] Home
A collaboration between STEEP and DWELL, led by Madison Jones, PhD at the University of Rhode Island, developed the PFAS Kitchen, an interactive augmented reality experience in which viewers can explore a virtual kitchen filled with everyday household items that may contain PFAS. Available on both iOS and Android devices, this accessible tool aims to raise awareness about PFAS and promote safer alternatives. Try it today!
Lohmann Receives Fulbright Specialist Award
The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board awarded STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann a Fulbright Specialist Program. In October, Lohmann completed a project around aquatic contaminants at the University of Iceland, exchanging knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas through a variety of educational and training activities within Environmental Science. Read More…
Grandjean Featured in Forever Chemicals Podcast
STEEP lead Philippe Grandjean was recently featured in a series of episodes on the podcast, FOREVER CHEMICALS. From the creators of Outdoor Minimalist, a new ten-part series sets out to investigate the origins, rise, and now phase out of the forever chemicals PFAS.
Grandjean was featured in episodes exploring:
- A Brief History of How PFAS Poisoned the World
- PFAS in the Outdoor Industry: A Performance Chemistry
- The Rise and Limitations of PFAS Regulation
- Are PFAS-Free Products Possible?
- The Path Ahead: Remediation and Clean-Up
Research Highlights
A Fluorinated Feedback Loop: How PFAS Research in the Ocean Underscores the Forever Chemical Problem
While the persistence of PFAS in the environment is well documented, scientists still have much to learn about the fate of “forever chemicals” in the world’s oceans. We do know PFAS love water, dissolve into water, and remain there.
Community Engagement
Falmouth STEAM Fair
In March, Community Engagement Core (CEC) co-lead Laurel Schaider and STEEP trainee Taylor Elpers hosted an informational table at the Falmouth K-12 STEAM Fair, held at Falmouth High School, Massachusetts.
Working with RIDOH
In April, STEEP lead and Associate Professor Jitka Becanova and STEEP trainee Melissa Woodward shared PFAS expertise and explained sampling procedures with the Rhode Island Department of Health, which conducted sampling of drinking water supplies across the state this summer.
Honor the Earth Fair
Also in April, STEEP Community Engagement Core (CEC) hosted an information table at the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Honor the Earth Fair in honor of Earth Day, held at the Tribal Headquarters in Mashpee, MA. CEC Co-Leads Laurel Schaider and Emily Diamond were joined by Cheryl Osimo (Silent Spring, MA Breast Cancer Coalition), Jamie-Lynn Ward (URI), and Andresa Lima (Silent Spring, Northeastern University). Schaider and Diamond also had the opportunity to provide remarks to the entire event, speaking after the Tribe’s Chairman.
Film screening with Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
In partnership with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, in May STEEP hosted a screening of the Bloomberg Investigates film The Poison In Us All, followed by an expert panel session discussing PFAS on Cape Cod. Hosted at the Mashpee Wampanoag Government Center, Jason Steiding, Natural Resources Director for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, introduced the event and welcomed participants. ‘
Following the film screening was a presentation from STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann, CEC co-lead Laurel Schaider, and former STEEP trainee Heidi Pickard, who discussed PFAS at large and shared preliminary results of fish and shellfish testing results from around the tribal lands. Conversation focused on sources of PFAS exposure for Cape communities, released EPA drinking water standards, and cultural impacts to tribal communities reliant on fish and shellfish.
URI Campus Tour for Cape Cod Youth
In late May, STEEP Community Engagement Core (CEC) hosted a University of Rhode Island (URI) campus visit for Cape Cod middle and high school students, to encourage Cape Cod youth to continue their learning journey into higher education and to consider studying STEM. Activities included a campus tour, an exploration of the School of Pharmacy’s medicinal garden, visiting the School of Pharmacy and talking with current students, trying virtual reality molecular informatics modules, a behind the scenes tour of the Endeavor research vessel, and visiting the GSO aquarium.
This day-long event was coordinated by STEEP CEC team member and Silent Spring Institute research assistant René LaPointe Jameson. PhD student and Silent Spring Institute intern Andresa Lima, STEEP trainees and PhD students Justin Sankey, Taylor Elpers, and Olga Skende, and URI Professors Angela Slitt and Jitka Becanova helped during the day to make this event a success. Many thanks as well to Elizabeth Leibovitz, Dr. Chris Hemme, the Endeavor vessel crew, current student and tour guide Harper, the URI Admissions team especially Beth Tikoian, URI Catering, and the entire STEEP CEC team. We look forward to organizing more campus visits as this one was very impactful to students, educators, and organizers alike.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Powwow
In July, Justin Sankey, STEEP trainee, and René LaPointe Jameson, a research assistant at the Silent Spring Institute (SSI), Andresa Lima, Northeastern University PhD student and intern at the SSI, and CEC co-lead Emily Diamond represented the STEEP CEC and attended the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s 103rd annual powwow in Mashpee, Massachusetts.
The group talked with tribal members and community members about water contamination with PFAS on Cape Cod and the recent study on PFAS levels in local, culturally-significant fish and shellfish. They also shared resources for people to treat PFAS in their home water and other tips on how to minimize PFAS exposures.
Celebrate Our Waters in Orleans, MA
In September, STEEP Community Engagement Core (CEC) hosted an informational table at the annual Celebrate Our Waters event held at Rock Harbor Beach in Orleans, MA, hosted by the Orleans Pond Coalition.
CEC co-lead Laurel Schaider talked to several dozen residents about PFAS and shared STEEP informational materials. The event attracted many families and featured a range of activities for young children, and attendees asked questions about local water quality and how to find PFAS-free consumer products.
Art+Sci with STEEP
Justin Sankey, STEEP trainee and PhD student at University of Rhode Island, recently collaborated in The Synergy Project, an art exhibition communicating oceanographic research from scientists at URI and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Sankey and artist Sharon Cutts co-created the piece Mermaid in Kelp, based on Sankey’s research about PFAS absorption in kelp. The exhibition is on display in Studio Blue, at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, through the end of 2024.
STEEP at GSO Science Saturday
In September, STEEP team members hosted a table at Science Saturday at the University of Rhode island Graduate School of Oceanography. STEEP shared tips for reducing personal exposure to PFAS, and also showcased the PFAS Kitchen (read more in the Feature Section!).
Tested Tips for Trainees
Tip #4: Send relatable grad school memes to friends…it can help to laugh about the misery together!
Melissa Woodward, PhD candidate (University of Rhode Island) and STEEP social media coordinator, recently launched STEEP Trainee’s Grad School Survival Guide, a social media series featuring funny anecdotes and practical tips for collaborating and time management.
Follow STEEP on our socials for a laugh and valuable insight: steepsuperfund
Research Highlights
STEEP Researchers Characterize Unregulated PFAS Uptake in Fish
While PFAS contamination from firefighting foams (AFFF) is well known, most of the focus of regulation has been on PFHxS and PFOS chemicals. However, Harvard scientists identify that some unregulated, precursor PFAS may be taken up just as much, or more, than these regulated compounds.
Using PFAS Exposure in Pregnant Mice to Understand Fetal Liver Exposure
STEEP researchers find evidence that mixed PFAS exposure though placental transfer and lactation impact fetal liver functions.
More PFAS, More Problems? STEEP and Collaborators Assess PFAS Accumulation in Fish Over Time
STEEP trainee Izak Hill partnered with USGS, Harvard, and University of Colorado Denver to apply a mobile fish lab to understand uptake of Cape Cod PFAS contamination.
In All Creatures Great and Small: Bound and Unbound PFAS Across Human, Rat, and Mouse Proteins
STEEP researchers find cross-species consistency for unbound PFAS in albumin and plasma using novel methodology.
STEEP Director Joins International Colleagues to Reflect on PFAS Science
Lohmann joined scientists and regulators from 18 countries to discuss progress made from 2017-2022, highlighting the need to expand collaboration, communication, and diversity within the field.
Other STEEP Publications
MS Savoca, AR Robuck, MA Cashman, MG Cantwell, LC Agvent, DN Wiley, R Rice, S Todd, NE Hunter, J Robbins, JA Goldbogen, and R Lohmann. 2024. Whale Baleen To Monitor Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Marine Environments. Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2024 11 (8), 862-870. DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00409
Other Related Publications
ML Diamond, G Sigmund, MG Bertram, AT Ford, M Ågerstrand, G Carlini, R Lohmann, K Šebková, A Soehl, MCVM Starling, N Suzuki, M Venier, P Vlahos, and M Scheringer. 2024. Exploring Outputs of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution Prevention.Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2024 11 (7), 664-672. DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00294
Glüge, J.; Breuer, K.; Hafner, A.; Vering, C.; Müller, D.; Cousins, I. T.; Lohmann, R.; Goldenman, G.; Scheringer, M. Finding Non-Fluorinated Alternatives to Fluorinated Gases Used as Refrigerants. 2024. Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts. DOI: 10.1039/D4EM00444B
Program Updates
STEEP Welcomes Johanna Ganglbauer, Data Manager
Johanna Ganglbauer has joined the STEEP team as Data Manager. Her main task is to ensure that data within STEEP is published according to the FAIR principles, findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. Ganglbauer will collaborate with the STEEP team to develop show case examples and support a gradual cultural change towards open data and reproducible science.
“I’m passionate about interdisciplinary research and believe there is a strong need to make projects more accessible to both scientists and the general public through open data. I also see significant potential in automating research workflows,” she says. “My goal is to always keep the bigger picture in focus and address bottlenecks for improvement. My philosophy is simple: be kind and constructive.”
Ganglbauer has a background in theoretical physics, with a Master of Physics from Graz University of Technology, Austria. Ganglbauer’s research can be found on Google Scholar.
STEEP Seminar Series
The STEEP 2024-2025 Seminar Series will explore PFAS and their health impacts through a series of expert-led presentations.
The series begins with Dr. Joseph Braun, Professor of Epidemiology at Brown University, on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET. Dr. Braun will present PFAS Exposure and Its Health Impacts: Understanding Sources, Health Risks, and Interventions, focusing on the relationship between PFAS exposure and long-term metabolic diseases, as well as approaches for assessing and mitigating these risks.
Following Dr. Braun, on Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, at 12:00PM ET, join us for an eye-opening webinar, PFAS Research: Facts, Fiction, and Fraud, featuring STEEP Project 1 lead Philippe Grandjean, founding editor of the journal Environmental Health, as he delves into the complex world of PFAS research. Although science is meant to be neutral and objective, Grandjean has uncovered numerous instances of bias and even falsification in PFAS-related studies. In some cases, research publications have been manipulated to support marketing agendas rather than scientific truth. In this webinar, Grandjean will provide real-world examples of how research can be misused and share his insights on how to critically assess publications to identify which may be misleading or untrustworthy.
Dr. Alicia Timme-Laragy, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at UMass Amherst, will present virtually on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 11:00 AM ET. Her talk, Insights into Developmental Toxicity of PFAS from Zebrafish, will investigate how zebrafish serve as a model for studying the developmental effects of PFAS, especially their disruption of critical biological pathways involved in oxidative stress.
Join us for these insightful discussions on PFAS research and its broader public health implications.
Additional speakers will be announced throughout the year. For more details and registration, visit the URI STEEP SRP website.
Trainee Retreat
In August, STEEP trainees participated in an annual retreat in southern Rhode Island. Trainees engaged in an interactive workshop around communication and conflict resolution with Zuzana Mimrová, experienced quantum computing with Leonard M. Kahn, enjoyed clam digging in Narragansett Bay with life-long quahogger Jody King, and ended the day with a twilight sail on a chartered sloop out of Newport.
STEEP Beyond the Lab
In April, STEEP trainee Jarod Snook (University of Rhode Island) took core samples for work as part of Project 4.
In June, STEEP trainees Jahred Liddie and Faiz Haque of Harvard University completed field sampling at Fresh Pond for the Cambridge Water Department, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for research as part of Project 1. Fresh Pond is typically not accessible to the public, so trainees coordinated with staff to collect a few surface water samples.
In November, STEEP trainee Melissa Woodward (University of Rhode Island, Project 4) spent time in New Jersey and Pennsylvania establishing four passive sampling sites along the Delaware River to measure PFAS concentration in water and air. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is assisting the team to switch out the samplers every month, and collection and research will continue over the next year.
Conferences
The STEEP team can be found all over the world! Most recently:
Northeast Society of Toxicology (NESOT)
- Oral Presentation – Olga Skende, STEEP Trainee, PhD student, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America
- Presentation – Asta Habtemichael, STEEP Trainee, PhD candidate, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
- Presentation – Izak Hill, STEEP Trainee, PhD student, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
- Presentation – Jitka Becanova, PhD, STEEP lead, Assistant Research Professor of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
International Society of Exposure Science (ISES)
- Presentation – Fabian Fischer, PhD, STEEP lead, Assistant Professor, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy
REMTECH & Emerging Contaminants Summit
- Presentation – Justin Sankey, STEEP Trainee, PhD student, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
STEEP Trainee Accomplishments
Habtemichael Awarded Knauss Fellowship
Asta Habtemichael, STEEP trainee and Ph.D. candidate in Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (URI), was recently announced a finalist in the prestigious NOAA National Sea Grant College Program Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.
Liddie Featured in Harvard University News
Jared Liddie, STEEP Trainee and a PhD candidate studying environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, interviewed with Harvard to discuss his research and his hope that it will inform future policy to minimize PFAS health risks. Read the article, Fighting forever chemicals.
Congratulations Graduates
Heidi Pickard, PhD (STEEP Project 1, Harvard University) – Investigating environmental contamination and human reaction to overlooked and difficult to measure chemical compounds. Pickard, a 2024 Harvard Horizons Scholar, presented her PhD research in April.
Sadegh Modaresi, PhD (STEEP Project 3, University of Rhode Island) – Mechanistic and toxicokinetic analysis of perfluoroalkyl substances: proteomics approach and the role of fatty acid binding (FABP).
Emily Kaye, PhD (STEEP Project 3, University of Rhode Island) – Mechanistic approach to understanding adverse liver outcomes related to PFAS exposure in neonatal and adult mice.
Welcome New Trainees!
It’s always exciting to onboard STEEP trainees – these outstanding individuals contribute significantly to the presence and character of STEEP in the world beyond the lab.
Liam Geyer
Track: PhD Candidate, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy
Advisor: Fabian Fischer, PhD, inter-Project research
Research: Export mechanisms of PFAS in in-vitro cell assays, with a specific focus on passive permeability.
Zhiji Hu
Track: PhD Student, Harvard John A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences
Advisor: Elsie Sunderland, PhD, Project 1
Research: Understanding the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of PFAS; developing toxicokinetic models in fish and assessing the relative importance of specific processes in overall bioaccumulation; investigating the environmental fate and transport of PFAS and its connection to human exposure.
Kelsey Staniec
Track: PhD Student, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography
Advisor: Rainer Lohmann, PhD, Project 4
Research: Developing a method of extraction for ultra-short chain PFAS from water; testing drinking water samples, and eventually seawater samples, for ultra-short chain PFAS contamination.
Jamie-Lynn Ward
Track: Masters, University of Rhode Island College of the Environment and Life Sciences
Advisor: Emily Diamond, PhD, Community Engagement Core
Research: Engagement and risk communication initiatives in regard to the impacts of PFAS and the effects of different messaging strategies to communicate information related to PFAS risks; primarily working with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Cape Cod.
Jingmei Zeng
Track: PhD Candidate, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy
Advisor: Angela Slitt, PhD, Project 3
Research: Investigating the transport of PFAS within the mammary glands of mice with a focus on the ABCG2 transporter.
Yumin Zhu
Track: Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
Advisor: Elsie Sunderland, PhD, Project 1
Research: The bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and toxicokinetics of PFAS; exploring how PFAS enter the body through various exposure pathways and assess the contributions of different environmental media to internal exposure. Additionally, identifying unknown PFAS in humans and other organisms by combining targeted analysis with non-targeted screening.
Op-Ed Feature
Research Is Great, But Publishing Research Is Less Great
Written By Matt Dunn, PhD
Navigating publishing culture can be…frustrating. To put it mildly. The upshot?: Take it in stride and you can be the change.
Soundbites from STEEP
“The public health risks posed by PFAS extend beyond immediate contamination sites and can affect communities living far from known sources,” said Elsie Sunderland, Project 1 lead, in a recent press release from Harvard University. “To protect these communities, it is crucial to measure PFAS in fish at sites that are hydrologically connected to known contamination sources and to develop consumption advisories.” Sunderland and several STEEP affiliates published a recent paper, Characterizing the Areal Extent of PFAS Contamination in Fish Species Downgradient of AFFF Source Zones.
“Maybe it would never have reached these proportions if scientists had been in charge.” A recent article in Smithsonian Magazine Online, The Long, Strange History of Teflon, the Indestructible Product Nothing Seems to Stick to, interviewed STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann.
PFAS are “reducing public health on an incredibly large scale” as a result of their presence in everyone, according to Elsie Sunderland, Project 1 lead, as quoted in the VTDigger op-ed, Bill Schubart: The health care crisis and the ‘ghost quartet’.
“PFAS have consistently been linked to effects on the immune system and, in particular, reduced antibody production by children,” said Laurel Schaider, CEC co-lead, in a recent interview with WBUR, Soaring PFAS levels force a reckoning for worried Hyannis residents. In another interview with 7 News Boston, Schaider was quoted, “exposure to PFAS has been linked to effects on every part of our body.”
“When you have a contaminated site, you can clean it up. When you ubiquitously introduce a toxicant at a global scale, so that it’s detectable in everyone … we’re reducing public health on an incredibly large scale,” said Elsie Sunderland, Project 1 lead, in the Propublica article, How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe.
An article in E&E News, an offshoot of Politico, trained focus on an emerging forever chemical, TFA (Trifluoroacetic acid), You’ve probably never heard of this ‘forever chemical.’ Scientists say it’s everywhere. STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann and former STEEP trainee Heidi Pickard weigh into the conversation.
“There’s nothing in the Arctic that isn’t contaminated by PFAS,” says STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann, as quoted in The New Lede article, PFAS levels increasing in Arctic animals, study finds. “It’s just very sad.” In another article from Hakai Magazine, Migrating Seabirds Are Bringing Forever Chemicals into the Arctic, Lohmann stressed that “biovectors” have significant localized impacts that are devastating for Arctic predators that accumulate toxins in their bodies.
In a recent JD Supra article, States Push EPA to Classify PFAS as Hazardous Air Pollutants, STEEP Director Rainer Lohmann highlights the need for broader regulation. “These states are pushing for recognition that PFAS can be transmitted through the air, not just through water.
STEEP Project Lead Philippe Grandjean was recently featured as an expert on Today’s Close Up for NHK World Japan, in a 30-minute segment, PFAS Chemicals: Tracking Sources and Health Risks.
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