Yale School of Public Health Symposium: An overview of the challenges and opportunities associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Anna L Hagstrom; Paul Anastas; Andrea Boissevain; Alexandre Borrel; Nicole C Deziel; Suzanne E Fenton; Cheryl Fields; John D Fortner; Nikolas Franceschi-Hofmann; Raymond Frigon; Lan Jin; Jae-Hong Kim; Nicole C Kleinstreuer; Jeremy Koelmel; Yu Lei; Zeyan Liew; Xiuqi Ma; Lori Mathieu; Sara L Nason; Kari Organtini; Youssef Oulhote; Shannon Pociu; Krystal J Godri Pollitt; James Saiers; David C Thompson; Brian Toal; Eric J Weiner; Shannon Whirledge; Yawei Zhang; Vasilis Vasiliou

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146192

Yale School of Public Health Symposium: An overview of the challenges and opportunities associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 15:778:146192. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146192. Epub 2021 Mar 3.

Authors

Anna L Hagstrom¹, Paul Anastas², Andrea Boissevain³, Alexandre Borrel⁴, Nicole C Deziel⁵, Suzanne E Fenton⁶, Cheryl Fields⁷, John D Fortner⁸, Nikolas Franceschi-Hofmann⁹, Raymond Frigon¹⁰, Lan Jin¹¹, Jae-Hong Kim⁸, Nicole C Kleinstreuer¹², Jeremy Koelmel⁵, Yu Lei¹³, Zeyan Liew⁵, Xiuqi Ma⁵, Lori Mathieu⁷, Sara L Nason¹⁴, Kari Organtini¹⁵, Youssef Oulhote¹⁶, Shannon Pociu¹⁰, Krystal J Godri Pollitt⁵, James Saiers¹⁷, David C Thompson¹⁸, Brian Toal⁷, Eric J Weiner¹⁹, Shannon Whirledge²⁰, Yawei Zhang⁵, Vasilis Vasiliou²¹

Affiliations

¹ Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Hartford, CT, USA; Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Rocky Hill, CT, USA.
² Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, CT, USA.
³ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Stratford Health Department, Stratford, CT, USA.
⁴ NIH/NIEHS/DIR Biostatistics & Computational Biology Branch, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
⁵ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁶ NIH/NIEHS Division of the National Toxicology Program, NTP Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
⁷ Connecticut Department of Public Health, Hartford, CT, USA.
⁸ Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁹ Aqualumos, Killingworth, CT, USA.
¹⁰ Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Hartford, CT, USA.
¹¹ Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
¹² NIH/NIEHS/DIR Biostatistics & Computational Biology Branch, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; NIH/NIEHS Division of the National Toxicology Program, NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
¹³ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
¹⁴ Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, USA.
¹⁵ Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, USA.
¹⁶ School of Public Health & Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
¹⁷ Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, CT, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA.
¹⁹ Clean Water Task Force at Windsor Climate Action, Windsor, CT, USA.
²⁰ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
²¹ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: vasilis.vasiliou@yale.edu.

PMID: 33714836
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146192

Abstract

On December 13, 2019, the Yale School of Public Health hosted a symposium titled "Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Challenges and Opportunities" in New Haven, Connecticut. The meeting focused on the current state of the science on these chemicals, highlighted the challenges unique to PFAS, and explored promising opportunities for addressing them. It brought together participants from Yale University, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Connecticut, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the Connecticut Departments of Public Health and Energy and Environmental Protection, and the public and private sectors. Presentations during the symposium centered around several primary themes. The first reviewed the current state of the science on the health effects associated with PFAS exposure and noted key areas that warranted future research. As research in this field relies on specialized laboratory analyses, the second theme considered commercially available methods for PFAS analysis as well as several emerging analytical approaches that support health studies and facilitate the investigation of a broader range of PFAS. Since mitigation of PFAS exposure requires prevention and cleanup of contamination, the third theme highlighted new nanotechnology-enabled PFAS remediation technologies and explored the potential of green chemistry to develop safer alternatives to PFAS. The fourth theme covered collaborative efforts to assess the vulnerability of in-state private wells and small public water supplies to PFAS contamination by adjacent landfills, and the fifth focused on strategies that promote successful community engagement. This symposium supported a unique interdisciplinary coalition established during the development of Connecticut's PFAS Action Plan, and discussions occurring throughout the symposium revealed opportunities for collaborations among Connecticut scientists, state and local officials, and community advocates. In doing so, it bolstered the State of Connecticut's efforts to implement the ambitious initiatives that its PFAS Action Plan recommends.

Keywords: Drinking water; Environmental contamination; Exposure; Health effects; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).