Grantee Research Project Results
Enhanced detection and removal of GenX from water supplies
EPA Grant Number: SU840578Title: Enhanced detection and removal of GenX from water supplies
Investigators: Tong, YuYe J , Chen, Dejun
Institution: Georgetown University
EPA Project Officer: Cunniff, Sydney
Phase: I
Project Period: August 1, 2023 through May 10, 2025
Project Amount: $25,000
RFA: 19th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet Request for Applications (RFA) (2022) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil/Water , P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , Urban Air Toxics
Description:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made chemicals (usually with long carbon chain) that are exceptionally resistant and have been shown to result in adverse health outcomes. As PFAS chemicals are increasingly recognized as emerging environmental contaminants that can potentially cause significant health risk to humans and the environment, GenX was introduced as a theoretically safer alternative due to its short carbon chain composition. However, there is a lack of comprehensive toxicological evidence to support that GenX does not cause similar health effects as its long-chain predecessors. Past experimental methods that used liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to detect GenX have encountered difficulty in achieving the level of sensitivity needed to detect perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCA) due to baseline contamination.
Objective:
This research aims to build upon existing technologies to develop a more effective and sustainable method for detection and removal of ammonium salt of hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimer acid (HFPO-DA, or GenX) from wastewater.
Approach:
In our proposed research, we aim to solve this problem by creating a clean blank using the UV/sulfite photocatalytic reductive degradation remediation technique. To detect trace amounts of GenX, LC-MS/MS blank samples with minimal background signal to lower the analytical detection limit are need. Treatment of blanks prior to analysis, which is an unexplored method, can potentially improve further research into GenX contamination detection. Furthermore, the wastewater treatment plant process of cleansing used ion exchange resins creates waste that is discharged back into the treatment plant, creating a cycle of GenX contamination. We propose to research whether the UV/sulfite photocatalytic reductive degradation remediation technique can also be applied to clean the resins discharging waste before being circulated back into the treatment plant.
Expected Results:
By increasing the accuracy of GenX detection, we are enhancing researchers' abilities to identify sites contaminated by GenX, and provide wastewater treatment plants a novel method to improve the treatment of GenX and PFAS.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
GenX, PFAS, PFOA, PFOS, Resin, Bioaccumulant, Remediation, Contamination, Water Treatment, Environmental ChemistryProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.