Mitigation of Forever Chemicals Using Edible Clay
Presenter: Danish Humayun
Faculty Sponsor: Meichen Wang
School: UMass Amherst
Research Area: Public Health and Epidemiology
Session: Poster Session 4, 2:15 PM - 3:00 PM, Auditorium, A7
ABSTRACT
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, have been detected in
99% of the U.S. population tested, with more than 90% of exposures attributed to the consumption of
PFAS-contaminated food and drinking water. Current treatment strategies have primarily focused on
environmental remediation of PFAS in wastewater and soil, while lacking validation for safety and
efficacy in animals and humans. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop safe and effective
interventions to mitigate unintended dietary exposures to PFAS. To fill in this gap, the current
research project focuses on measuring the toxic effects of PFAS and the detoxification
efficacy of sorbent treatments in Hydra vulgaris and Lemna minor, which are used as sensitive
bioassay models to indicate toxicity of PFAS in water. An important outcome of this study is the
identification of edible sorbents that will reduce the toxicity of PFAS in i) Hydra morphology,
regeneration, and feeding ability, and ii) Lemna surface area, frond number, chlorophyll content, and
oxidative stress. The correlation among the bioassays will establish the effectiveness of the
mitigation of forever chemicals using edible sorbents in living systems. This work will facilitate the
technology transfer of edible sorbents to decrease human exposure to PFAS-contaminated water
and food.
