Skip to Main Content

Purdue scientist awarded $1.6 million from EPA to study PFAS in rural waters

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have long been used to make products like stain-resistant carpets and clothing, water-proofing textiles, grease- and water-resistant packing, and stick-free pots and pans. That also means they accumulate in human bodies, and there’s evidence that they can be harmful for our health.

Linda Lee
Linda Lee

Wastewater treatment plants serve as conduits of our wastes, thus PFAS can be found in treated sludges used as fertilizers on farms as well as treated wastewater used in irrigation. Linda Lee, a Purdue professor of agronomy, received a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to understand the ways in which these agricultural applications may affect surface and ground waters that feed rural drinking wells in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia. With other partners, including Virginia’s Hampton Roads Sanitation District, Lee’s team will get more than $2.3 million for the research.

“We apply biosolids to our farmland because they’re very valuable. Plants grow better when you apply biosolids, but they also contain PFAS,” Lee said. “Right now, there’s a knowledge gap there. We don’t know if these PFAS are getting into rural water supplies and, if so, at what levels and what might be the primary transport pathways.”

Lee’s study will evaluate the levels of PFAS in land-applied biosolids; the fate, transport and crop uptake of PFAS; the levels of PFAS in local rural water supplies; and the ways in which climate, landscape and hydrology affect PFAS movement and distribution.

“EPA’s funding of this research will not only benefit our rural communities but will also provide valuable insight to our agricultural producers,” said Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University. “This grant allows us to collaborate with research partners across multiple states to increase the potential impact.”

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows that PFAS are present in 98% of Americans’ blood. Other research has linked some PFAS to increased levels of cholesterol, low infant birth weights, thyroid and immune system problems, and cancer.

This grant comes less than a year after Lee secured a $900,000 EPA grant to find ways to reduce the level of PFAS in drinking water by capturing or remediating them before they leave wastewater treatment plants.

Featured Stories

Leo Koenigsfeld
Leo Koenigsfeld - Graduate Ag Research Spotlight

Leo Koenigsfeld grew up in a small town in central Missouri with the unlikely name of...

Read More
Bill and CD Young at a table in front of greenery in the Spirit and Elephant restaurant.
Purdue hosts new plant-based product development competition

A generous gift from the Young Family will drive food innovation at Purdue University over the...

Read More
Austin Grant with colleagues during his summer internship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
FNR Field Report: Austin Grant

Austin Grant, a senior majoring in aquatic sciences with a minor in military science and...

Read More
Kingsly Ambrose in front of the solar system model in Discovery Park on campus.
ABE professor recognized for advancing ag safety and health

Kingsly Ambrose, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, was...

Read More
Rice inspects insects in the lab
When passions connect: insect biology meets history

Her love for insects started early. “From the moment I could walk, I was outside looking at...

Read More
Student wearing a white T-shirt works on a laptop covered in Purdue stickers while sitting at a table with a notebook open. The background shows other students studying in a large, well-lit space.
2025–26 Animal Sciences scholarship recipients announced

Purdue Animal Sciences awarded $72,200 in scholarships to students for the 2025–26 school...

Read More
To Top