NIH to award $8 million for new USC Superfund center to research and address ‘forever chemicals’
Experts in population health, engineering, and medicine will study and address harms related to the manmade pollutants at the new Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention (ShARP) Center.
Keck School of Medicine of USC
A team of scientists from Keck School of Medicine of USC and USC Viterbi School of Engineering has been awarded an $8 million, five-year grant from one of the National Institutes of Health to launch a Superfund Research Program Center where they will study environmental contamination from “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, which are used to make multiple household items from cookware to furniture.
With the grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the USC scientists are establishing the Southern California Superfund Research and Training Program for PFAS Assessment, Remediation and Prevention, or ShARP Center. There, they will investigate how these chemicals impact liver health, and how to detect and remove them from public water sources.
Known as “forever chemicals” because they take so long to break down, PFAS are estimated to be present in the blood of more than 99% of U.S. adults. Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine have found that these chemicals can affect nearly every organ in the body, including the kidneys and liver, and are linked to a range of rare cancers. Still, much work remains to better understand how PFAS affect health.
“We still have an incomplete understanding of the health impacts of PFAS exposure, including their impact on human liver disease,” said Vaia Lida Chatzi, MD, PhD, a professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and director of the ShARP Center. “That’s one of the many unknowns our center will work to answer.”
The new center builds on a strong foundation of PFAS research and remediation efforts by Chatzi and her team. In addition to studying how the pollutants affect health, the researchers have documented PFAS contamination of drinking water, as well as food and beverage products, and partnered with local communities to share information on how to stay safe.
The team’s recent research efforts were supported by a 2023 USC President’s Sustainability Initiative Award, which paved the way for the launch of the ShARP Center, Chatzi said. The pilot grant allowed researchers to gather and publish data on PFAS in Southern California and to show that a cross-disciplinary collaboration could lead to solutions.
“At USC, we are united in our mission to build a healthier, more sustainable and prosperous future for all,” said USC President Carol Folt. “The ShARP Center is an important step in tackling the growing problem of chemical contamination. This interdisciplinary effort will not only advance research on forever chemicals, but also reflects our decades-long commitment to finding real-world solutions to environmental health challenges.”
Working together on PFAS
Superfund Research Program Centers unite leaders from various fields to protect public health from hazardous substances, including those found at Superfund sites deemed as a threat to human health by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. With the research grant and the establishment of the ShARP Center, USC is among nearly two dozen universities that lead Superfund research in the country, according to information maintained by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Scientists at the ShARP Center will focus on understanding how PFAS affect liver health, building on early evidence from animal models. To explore how PFAS exposure affects human liver cells, Chatzi and her team will employ advanced techniques such as 3D spheroid modeling. These lab-grown clusters of cells help scientists more accurately simulate what happens in the human body, compared to traditional 2D cell cultures.
They will also conduct a population study that examines the link between PFAS exposure and liver disease in youth, a group that faces an outsized and growing risk of the condition. Currently, there are no effective intervention strategies to tackle the liver disease epidemic affecting children and adolescents across the country. The center researchers will investigate what factors and mechanisms may be driving the spike in liver disease and identify critical approaches to address this gap.
One major problem is PFAS contamination of public drinking water, which affects an estimated 200 million people nationwide. Researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering will explore ways to remove PFAS from polluted water, including through the use of special microbes, chemicals or heating methods that can break down the chemicals.
“This collaboration includes experts in biological processes, water reuse, chemical transport and more. That diverse knowledge will be critical for solving challenges related to PFAS and public and environmental health,” said Adam Smith, PhD, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering and one of the ShARP Center’s leaders.
From research to action
While research is ongoing, Chatzi and her team are already taking steps to protect public health. They have launched several efforts that aim to educate high-risk Southern California communities about the harms of PFAS exposure.
“We’ve been building partnerships with community leaders to collaborate on exposure assessment of PFAS and health studies across L.A.,” said Max Aung, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine, who will oversee engagement efforts at the ShARP Center. “Our engagement core will continue working with community leaders to share research findings and gain insights that can help us build effective solutions and interventions.”
The ShARP Center will also share findings with industry partners, policymakers, and the broader scientific community, with the goal of using its remediation work as a model for similar initiatives nationwide.
About the ShARP Center
In addition to Chatzi, Smith and Aung, the center’s other leaders from Keck School of Medicine of USC are Rob McConnell, David Conti, Jesse Goodrich and Jane Steinberg at the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences; and Ana Maretti-Garcia and Lucy Golden from the Department of Medicine. The center’s leading researchers from USC Viterbi include Dan McCurry and Amy Childress. The University of California, Irvine researchers are Scott Bartell and Veronica Vieira.
This work is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [P42ES36506].
Drinking water, select foods linked to PFAS in California adults
While concentrations of older “forever” chemicals appear to have decreased in many foods over the last two decades, a new study found that drinking water, along with seafood, eggs, and brown rice, still contribute to PFAS exposure in adults
Boston University School of Public Health
While concentrations of older “forever” chemicals appear to have decreased in many foods over the last two decades, a new study found that drinking water, along with seafood, eggs, and brown rice, still contribute to PFAS exposure in adults. More attention is needed to newer, replacement PFAS.
Food has long been considered a major source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a large class of long-lasting chemicals used in industry, consumer products, and found in the environment that are hazardous to human health. A new study led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers (BUSPH) reveals that PFAS exposure through food appears to have declined among adults over the last two decades—but drinking water remains an important source of these chemicals.
Published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the study examined associations between diet, drinking water, and “legacy” PFAS—chemicals that were phased out of production in the US in the 2000s—with blood samples from California residents. PFAS exposure was associated with consumption of seafood, eggs, and brown rice, but fewer other foods than suggested by earlier studies. PFAS levels were elevated among people who lived in areas where these chemicals were detectable in their drinking water supply, but lower than levels found in highly contaminated communities.
The findings published the same day the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will roll back first-ever limits on certain types of PFAS in drinking water, set last year. The EPA also said it will uphold drinking water standards for two of the most harmful forever chemicals—PFOA and PFOS—but extended the deadline for water utilities’ compliance with these rules, from 2029 to 2031.
The study provides the first analysis of the effects of diet and drinking water simultaneously on PFAS concentrations in blood, and it fills a critical gap in research on this topic. Most US information on PFAS in food relies on earlier European studies that cannot be fully applied to the US population or lifestyle due to differences in time of sampling, diet, food production, and industries. To understand and mitigate the harmful effects of PFAS on individuals and the environment, the US needs current data on the possible contributing sources of exposure.
While we observed fewer dietary associations compared to previous studies, diet and water may still be an important source of exposure in the general population,” says study lead and corresponding author Dr. Emily Pennoyer, a graduate of BUSPH’s environmental health PhD program, and a student at the time of the study. “These findings emphasize the need to continue ongoing efforts to regulate PFAS in drinking water.”
Known as “forever chemicals” because they are difficult to break down, some PFAS are linked to a number of diseases and other health conditions, including multiple cancers, liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased vaccine response, and developmental and reproductive complications.
For the study, Dr. Pennoyer and colleagues at BUSPH, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and California Department of Toxic Substances Control estimated associations among legacy serum PFAS concentrations, self-reported food consumption, and PFAS concentrations in public drinking water supplies. The 700 adult participants were selected from the California Regional Exposure Study, conducted from 2018-2020, which measures and compares environmental chemicals in people across the state to better understand how to reduce chemical exposure and improve public health.
The participants provided survey responses detailing demographic information and the frequency in which they consume red meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, potatoes, brown rice, takeout, and packaged foods that are heated at home. The researchers observed associations between legacy serum PFAS and consumption of seafood, eggs and brown rice, but overall, PFAS exposure through food appeared to be lower than earlier studies in other populations—a surprising result to the team. This decline could be due, in part, to the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to phase out legacy PFAS from manufacturing, and restrict certain PFAS in paper food contact materials.
“It is encouraging that we see fewer associations with food in this study, but concern about PFAS in some food groups remain,” says study coauthor Dr. Nerissa Wu, biomonitoring California program lead at CDPH. “We will continue to work to understand how to lower PFAS levels in the California food supply.”
While PFAS concentrations in the participants’ drinking water was on average substantially lower than previous measurements in areas that have reported heavily contaminated water supplies, the team still observed significantly higher PFAS levels in participants living in water service areas with detectable PFAS, compared to those who lived in areas without detectable levels.
“The connections to drinking water are concerning and support California’s efforts to evaluate and address PFAS contamination in drinking water supplies,” says study coauthor Dr. Kathleen Attfield, head of the Biomonitoring California, Exposure Surveillance and Epidemiology Unit at CDPH.
In addition to gaining a better understanding of PFAS in the food chain, “more research is needed on indoor exposures to air, dust, and cosmetics, as well as analyses of newer, non-legacy PFAS,” says study senior author Dr. Thomas Webster, professor of environmental health at BUSPH.
“Our findings further support the importance of upholding the federal drinking water standards promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” says study coauthor Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays, emeritus clinical professor of environmental health at BUSPH. ”Efforts to ban or limit the use of PFAS, including emerging PFAS, are necessary to reduce their presence in the environment, including in food and water.”
Consumers can make informed choices by purchasing products labeled “fluoro-free” when possible, she adds.
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About Boston University School of Public Health
Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations—especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable—locally and globally.
Journal
Environmental Science & Technology
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Publication Date
14-May-2025
