The Environmental Protection Agency awarded IU $7.2 million to continue monitoring “forever chemicals” in the Great Lakes.
The funding will go toward the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network, a program established by the EPA in 1990 with the purpose of monitoring atmospheric contributions of chemicals in the Great Lakes. The award will be incrementally dispersed to the program over the span of six years, according to an Oct. 1 press release.
IU Assistant Professor Marta Venier, the IADN leader, said the award money will allow the program to continue measuring chemicals in the Great Lakes, including legacy chemicals and more modern chemicals such as PFAS chemicals, also known as “forever chemicals,” due to their inability to break down in the atmosphere.
While health-related research about PFAS chemicals are ongoing, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said there is an association between the exposure to PFAS chemicals and damage to kidneys and liver systems. PFAS chemicals are man-made and used in various consumer products since the 1950s.
A study released by the IADN in 2022 reported toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes’ atmosphere were “fair and improving.” However, atmospheric deposition, which is the transfer of pollutants to the Earth’s surface, remains a significant roadblock.
Venier said the program is currently interested in monitoring the trends of PFAS chemicals in the Great Lakes by collecting samples of the atmospheric vapor on the shores of the lake once every twelve days.
“PFAS chemicals are used in consumer products,” Venier said. “Think your camping and rain gear. They are also most certainly in our bodies now.”
Since the 1990s, the program has taken over a million samples of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), flame retardants and other toxic chemicals, the press release said.
While there are a few other ongoing projects monitoring PFAS chemicals around the world, Venier said the IADN is one of the most successful programs on a global scale.
“The continuity of data that we collect is why the program is successful,” Venier said. "All of the chemicals we measure have an effect on the environment, people or both.”
The program is turning its attention to the development of new equipment to measure PFAS in the air, as scientists within the program don’t understand much about the trends of the chemical due to how recently they began tracking the data.
“By producing solid and consistent data, the EPA can use the information to protect the environment,” Venier said.
