Arizona Institute for Resilience Accelerates Action on PFAS in Arizona

When Gemma Smith started hearing the term ‘PFAS’ a few years ago, she decided to investigate – both as a researcher and as a concerned citizen, she said: “My learning started close to home, wondering what is happening in our own community.”

As an interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in environmental policy and governance, she was concerned to learn about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” harming the environment and health of residents of Tucson.

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Smith began talking with fellow researchers about PFAS and soon realized there is a wealth of expertise within the University of Arizona. However, while she observed that everyone is doing great work in individual disciplines, she thought they should find a way to work together.

She found that way through the Arizona Institute for Resilience Annual Resilience Theme grant, which awards support from the state Technology and Research Initiative Fund for Water, Environmental and Energy Solutions to U of A faculty and researchers to collaborate across disciplines on a high-impact project helping the local community. Past projects have addressed soil health, watershed conservation, and fire ecology.

Smith, who holds appointments in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy and in the School of Government and Public Policy, assembled a team of colleagues with expertise in every phase of PFAS existence, and earned this year’s award for their project, DESERT-PFAS: Developing Engagement, Sustainability, Education, Research and Technology for PFAS in Arizona.

“AIR’s Annual Resilience Theme provides researchers with resources to step outside of their traditional academic roles and engage with communities to make a difference in the real world,” noted AIR Director Sharon Collinge. “We’re thrilled to be able to support a project with so much potential for positive impacts in environment and community outcomes for the state.”

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“The U of A is becoming a leader in PFAS solutions,” Smith said. “I’m excited about everything we’ll learn, the relationships we’ll build, and the resources we’ll create to support the state.”

PFAS have been widely used in a variety of common materials, from clothing to cosmetics to industrial products, since their invention in the 1930s. A site near Tucson’s International Airport earned an Environmental Protection Agency “superfund” designation for high levels of hazardous waste from compounds including PFAS, which are of great concern for groundwater and environmental contamination and health impacts to residents exposed to the products.

“After PFAS are released into the environment, they do not remain in one place,” said Bo Guo, a university distinguished scholar and associate professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences, and a DESERT-PFAS co-investigator. “They can move through water, soil, and air. Understanding this environmental transport is critical for assessing exposure risks and developing effective strategies to mitigate PFAS contamination. This is especially important in Arizona, where water reuse and groundwater recharge are central to our water future.”

“In the KORES Lab, we work on understanding the interactions of PFAS with environmental and biological mediums, and treatment of PFAS in water systems,” added Vicky Karanikola, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering and a project co-investigator. “I am particularly motivated by the opportunity to work with students and community partners on local PFAS challenges and develop a road map for sustainable solutions for Arizona."

With the funding from AIR, the team has been able to scale up a science policy community workshop already planned with support of the Udall Center, bringing together researchers from the state’s three public universities, community members, Tribal communities, nonprofits, and state and federal agencies to share knowledge and actions to mitigate the harm of PFAS.

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“This institutional support gives scientists, communities and policymakers an opportunity to come together to tackle this challenge, to develop a shared understanding of PFAS problems across the state and to devise our top shared priorities for solutions,” Smith said.

The team also partnered with external organizations to launch a Student Grand Challenge training undergraduate and graduate students to pursue community-based PFAS research questions and develop capstone presentations for a public event at the end of the year.

“The urgent and challenging problems we face in public health require systems thinking across so many disciplines,” noted Amanda Wilson, a co-investigator of the project and associate professor of public health in the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. “Giving students from different colleges hands-on experience with real-world problems which our communities face is invaluable learning, and I’m excited to see the solutions they create.”

Another team member is Jonathon Keats, an environmental artist and designated campus colleague with the university’s College of Fine Arts. Keats will conceptualize and deliver two artistic workshops: one for members of the research accelerator network, faculty and students, and another for students in Arizona Arts’ Health and Arts Community Collaboratory, engaging future health practitioners on the issue of PFAS and their impact in communities.

“From detection of PFAS in the environment, tracking their spread, treating contamination, and destroying the molecules, to protecting human health, mitigating exposure, addressing concerns through policy and governance, and educating and engaging community members through arts and humanities,” Smith observed, “we have it all here at the U of A.”

“Managing PFAS is a systemic sustainability challenge,” she added, because the compounds last so long in the environment. “By connecting all of our research disciplines, we can really understand PFAS all the way through its life cycle in the Southwest and Arizona.”