UW-Madison Launches PFAS Center to Clean Wisconsin Waters

The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced the establishment of the Center of Excellence in PFAS Environmental Science within its Water Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, funded by $963,000 in federal grants announced by U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan on March 27, 2024. The center, housed under Wisconsin Sea Grant, aims to detect hard-to-identify PFAS compounds and develop remediation strategies to protect Wisconsin's drinking water and ecosystems. Key upgrades include a new mass spectrometer to analyze contamination more efficiently, boosting the lab's capacity to process samples from across the state.

Christy Remucal, a UW-Madison professor of civil and environmental engineering, leads efforts to broaden PFAS detection in soil and water, addressing the chemicals' persistence dubbed 'forever chemicals.' The funding, part of bipartisan federal bills signed by President Biden, supports cross-campus research and recruits graduate and postdoctoral students to tackle PFAS samples. In Dane County, where PFAS levels exceed 8 parts per trillion in Starkweather Creek and Lake Monona, the work is urgent; the Wisconsin DNR advises against swallowing water there and rinsing pets after contact.

Complementary initiatives amplify the fight. Professors S. Amirfakhri at UW-Stevens Point and Xuejun Pan at UW-Madison received Freshwater Collaborative funding to test PFAS removal using activated carbon from kapok fiber and Douglas fir, which showed the highest adsorption capacity. They've trained students from multiple UW campuses and hosted workshops, including one on April 3, 2024, for high school educators, plus middle school events teaching filtration basics. These efforts build statewide capacity amid widespread PFAS in Wisconsin's surface and groundwater.