UMaine funding restored for research on 'forever chemicals'

University of Maine campus shot showing building and a flag

File photo / University of Maine The University of Maine System has had a total of 16 federal grants cut, then restored.

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By Tina Fischer

In yet another federal funding cut and reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has restored the full $1.6 million grant to University of Maine researchers working with farmers to reduce the risks of harmful forever chemicals.

UMaine received a termination notice sent May 10, which stated, “The objectives of the award are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.” Then on June 6, UMaine received a letter saying that the EPA was reversing the termination, effective immediately.

In a statement, UMaine System spokeswoman Samantha Warren said that the organization has now had 16 awards restored that the federal government had previously cut, mostly at UMaine. The balance remaining on those reversed awards is $3.5 million.

There is $1.4 million remaining on the restored PFAS award for UMaine, Warren said.

Research on forever chemicals

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — were first found to be present in farm fields in the state in 2016, and were linked to the common practice of using sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants as an inexpensive fertilizer. It was later discovered that an estimated 90 Maine farms were affected.

The practice of using sludge was banned in Maine in 2022 and the state created a $60 million fund, administered by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, to assist affected farmers and support research.

PFAS are blamed for a range of health issues, including decreased vaccine response, higher cholesterol levels, impaired infant and fetal growth, increased risk of some cancers and pregnancy complications such as hypertension and pre-eclampsia.

Warren said the newly restored federal funding to UMaine will complement a recent $499,995 grant from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to study how PFAS compounds in soil can make their way into human food systems.

Both projects are led by professor and UMaine Extension specialist Ellen Mallory, and leverage past UMaine PFAS research and extension efforts that included the development of a support network for affected farmers.

UMaine has been granted a total of $3 million this year from the state DCAF fund for PFAS research.