Building a Regional Network to Study the Influence of Environmental Conditions on Contaminants of Emerging Concern
The geographical scope of this project encompasses South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, including both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida. This initiative supports innovative, extension-led research that addresses the priorities identified through our literature gap analysis, legal scan, and advisory committee discussions.
An intense evaluation process revealed significant research gaps in the emerging contaminants literature. We examined 100 Web of Science verified documents for the quality and impact, identifying six thematic area gaps: holistic approaches, risk assessment, research methodology, monitoring protocols, models as tools, and treatment technologies.
A legal scan of current laws and regulations was also conducted, focusing on federal, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida statutes related to PFAS and other POPs, biological contaminants and microorganisms, pharmaceuticals and PPCPs, and nanomaterials. Five key takeaways emerged: federal legislation has addressed PFAS by providing funding to the states; federal PFAS regulation has progressed through the rule-making process; Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina have enacted PFAS-related legislation; PFAS response projects are advancing in each state; and other CEC programs are not as robust as PFAS programs.
The Primer (2022) offers an extensive overview of these findings and discussions, serving as the foundation for the FY2023 Request for Proposals.
Project Support
This project is supported by a grant from the NOAA National Sea Grant Office, award NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007012. The competitive research opportunity was open from October 2023 through January 2024.
Supported Research Projects
Till J.J. Hanebuth, Ph.D., Professor, Coastal Carolina University
Rising water tables and increasing river flooding changing the transport pattern and fate of PFAS in the lower Winyah watershed (WinyahFlu)
Leslie Hart, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Charleston
Climate factor influences, spatiotemporal variability, and bottlenose dolphin health related to phthalate exposure measured over 30 years in Sarasota Bay, Florida (1993–2023)
Ching-Hua Huang, Ph.D., Turnipseed Family Chair and Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Impact of Drinking Water Treatment on the Fate of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) and Precursors in Wastewater Reuse Application
Xiaoyu Xu, Ph.D., Assistant Research Scientist, University of Georgia
Develop a Community-Based Participatory Approach to Evaluate the Dietary Exposure of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
Project Team
Brooke Saari
SCSGC Coastal Environmental Quality Program Specialist
brooke.saari@scseagrant.org
(843) 953-6406
Katy Austin Smith
GASG Water Resources Specialist
klaustin@uga.edu
(912) 262-3338
Catherine Marie Janasie
National Sea Grant Law Center Senior Research Counsel
cjanasie@olemiss.edu
(662) 915-7775
Lola Renauer
SCSGC Contaminants of Emerging Concern Graduate Assistant
lola.renauer@scseagrant.org
(843) 953-2078
Advisory Committee
Bill Strosnider – University of South Carolina, Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences
Ryann Rossi – St. Andrew & St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program, Florida State University Panama City
Chip Robinson – Georgia Interfaith Power and Light
Marilyn Hemingway – Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce
Jennifer Kline – Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources Division
Chaquetta Greene – South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Environmental Justice Associate
Elizabeth Booth – Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Watershed Protection Branch
Cheryl Cail – American Rivers
Lisa Fraley-McNeal – Center for Watershed Protection
Ed Wirth – NCCOS/Hollings Marine Lab
Lisa Krimsky – Florida Sea Grant
Ray Holberger – South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Sue Ebanks – Savannah State University
Stephanie Showalter-Otts – National Sea Grant Law Center Director