# Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP)

> **NIH NIH P42** · UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND · 2021 · $125,949

## Abstract

CORE SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of the Sources, Transport, Exposure, and Effects of PFASs (STEEP) Center’s Community
Engagement Core (CEC) is to facilitate a community-centered, participatory process to protect human health
and inform public policy. The CEC will serve as the liaison between STEEP Center members and residents
and stakeholders on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in New England, and throughout the United States to: direct
community engagement best practices to enhance a broad understanding of per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFASs); promote and implement prevention and intervention strategies to reduce exposures to
PFASs; protect human and ecological health; and inform public policy. The CEC aims to be responsive to the
community’s needs by providing scientific expertise in response to community questions and concerns. The
CEC will work with stakeholders, including residents, federal, state and local health and environmental
agencies, public officials, non-governmental organizations, and “sister” Superfund programs at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to:
facilitate bidirectional exchange of knowledge between stakeholders and researchers; enhance a broad
understanding of PFASs; and promote and implement prevention and intervention strategies to reduce
exposures to PFASs and protect human health.
 The CEC’s targeted communities are located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where multiple sources of
PFASs (fire training areas, airports, military base, landfills, municipal wastewater, and septic systems) threaten
the sole source aquifer that provides drinking water for 200,000 year-round and 500,000 summer residents.
For instance, Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) is home to the Otis Air National Guard Base, one of 14 designated
Superfund Sites for PFASs. PFASs from aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs) have migrated into groundwater
near JBCC and near the Barnstable County Fire Training Academy (BCFTA); public drinking water wells near
BCFTA are being treated to remove PFASs. Prior research by Silent Spring Institute demonstrated the
presence of PFASs in private drinking water wells throughout Cape Cod.
 The CEC will work with each research project, the Research Translation Core (RTC), and Training
Core (TC) to foster knowledge exchange between STEEP members and community members and
stakeholders. The CEC will form a Cape Cod Advisory Committee (CCAC) and host an annual Spring Science
Day on Cape Cod to provide opportunities for STEEP researchers and trainees to share new research findings
and for stakeholders and community members to ask questions and inform research and engagement
activities. The CEC will offer private well water testing for PFASs to Cape Cod residents, focused in areas
near likely sources, and participants will receive context-rich, digital report-back of their own well results.
Results from wells close to known sources will also inform Project 1’s fingerprinting...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10146386
- **Project number:** 5P42ES027706-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
- **Principal Investigator:** Alyson McCann
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $125,949
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-09-12

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10146386

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10146386, Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP) (5P42ES027706-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10146386. Licensed CC0.

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