Things have been quiet at the VT-AREC site in Warsaw, VA. The research team were last at the site this past Fall when soybean plant material for Dr. Ian Pepper’s research group was sampled. This sampling was done as part of the second phase of Dr. Pepper’s National Collaborative PFAS Project. The objective of Phase 2 of this project is to examine the potential crop uptake of PFAS from these soils that have been amended with biosolids.
We are eagerly anticipating the results from this portion of the study, as it will give us important data regarding the fate and transport of PFAS compounds from biosolid amended soils to crops. The overall goal for this phase of the project is to look at PFAS fate and transport in a large variety of agricultural crops grown in varying soils with historical biosolid land application.Upcoming for this year the VBC hopes to conduct one final soil PFAS assessment on the study site in Warsaw. This final soil sampling event would conclude a three year study examining the fate and transport of biosolids at this site. We will hopefully be able to determine the maximum vertical transport of PFAS in the study site soil column as impacted by the initial land application in May, 2023.VBC will provide communication when this final sampling event occurs and provide a summary of the analytical data when it becomes available.
Contributed by Chris Burbage, Ph.D., HRSD Environmental Scientist and VBC Research Committee Chair