Kevin Pearson Pilot Project Scope:Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences: Pilot Project Program

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitously found synthetic chemicals that are resistant to degradation in the environment. Almost all humans have detectable levels of PFAS in their serum and tissues. However, there are no treatments known to reduce the body burden of PFAS in living organisms. Enterosorbents are orally administered sorbent materials that can be designed to bind target substances as they travel through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract before being removed through natural excretion from the body. We developed and tested various potential polymeric enterosorbents that effectively bind to PFAS in aqueous systems. For example, they have developed sorbents with PFAS affinity based on poly(acrylamide) networks that are functionalized with cationic co-monomers to target the carboxylic or sulfonic functionalities of PFAS, as well as powdered activated carbon (PAC) to promote hydrophobic interactions with the C-F chain of compounds. Successful removal of PFAS was demonstrated where an increase in PAC promotes >72% binding of PFAS. Additionally, in collaboration with investigators at Texas A&M who are experts in enterosorbent analysis, these enterosorbents were exposed in tandem with PFAS using three biological assays with promising protection of Lemna minor (duckweed), Caenorhabditis elegans (nematodes), and Hydra vulgaris (freshwater polyps) from contaminant toxicity. The next step is to analyze the best-performing sorbent from earlier preliminary analysis using both male and female mice. There are two main goals of this pilot application. We plan to determine (1) enterosorbent dosage at the benchtop mimicking an in vivo environment (e.g. temperature, pH) and (2) whether a co-exposure of advanced enterosorbents and a PFAS mixture affects PFAS serum and tissue levels in both male and female mice. This is an important step toward determining whether enterosorbents can be used as an effective treatment or prevention strategy. We hypothesize that our tested enterosorbent will bind PFAS at low pH and at 30 degrees and that the binding enterosorbents to PFAS will decrease PFAS uptake into the blood and cause decreased levels in the liver and kidneys. This is a pilot study where we will collect key data that will drive the design of numerous future experiments that will be competitive for NIEHS funding. This is a high-risk, high-reward pilot project that will investigate the ability of enterosorbents to prevent PFAS contaminants from entering the systemic circulation. This is a critical first step in demonstrating the potential of enterosorbents as a unique solution to prevent detrimental health impacts resulting from exposures to environmental contaminants, such as PFAS. Future studies will test whether enterosorbents will bind and clear PFAS from complex mixtures or the GI tract independent of the co-exposure of PFAS and enterosorbents simultaneously.