BOSTON, MA – Our Center recently awarded a $10,000 community action fund grant to Healthy Acadia, who will be partnering with MDI Biological Laboratory and the University of New England’s Center for Excellence in Aging and Health on a study to examine the link between Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) and older Mainers’ health.
The Health Water/Healthy Aging PFAS Initiative is the first of its kind in examining the association between PFAS exposure in older people and how they age, including the health conditions they develop.
“Older people have been exposed to PFAS chemicals through a period of their life, perhaps when no doctors were asking them these questions,” said Jane Disney, associate professor of environmental health at MDI Biological Laboratory during a ribbon cutting in April.
“We’re very concerned about the exposure that young children have, but this study will allow us to look through the lifespan,” she said.
The funding from our Center will be used to purchase approximately 30 test kits that will allow Maine residents to have their wells tested for PFAS. This is part of a larger effort to test 1,000 wells for arsenic and other toxic metals.
Our Center’s community action funds (up to $10,000) are available for community-based research projects that aim to empower communities and effect policy changes. For more information, click here.
Collaborators on this project include the University of New England’s Center for Excellence in Aging and Health, Healthy Acadia, and our Center. For more information about the study, click here.