# Developing and Evaluating Technology to Measure PAH Fate and Exposures

> **NIH NIH P42** · OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $303,956

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – ANDERSON PROJECT
Superfund site managers lack information that would allow them to select the most environmentally sound and
cost-effective remediation strategies. To make a balanced decision, they must understand the behavior of the
entire system: they need to know how toxic chemicals move into and out of the site, when and where those
chemicals move. We propose to discover the fate of bioavailable PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon),
utilizing passive sampling devices (PSD) technologies, to assess bioavailable PAH flux between environmental
compartments. We propose to develop generalizable technology to measure the movement (flux) of PAHs into
and out of Superfund sites. We will determine how PAH movement varies with the seasons and tides. We will
quantify the net movement of PAHs into the local environments via diffusive and advective flux in waters at
different locations, at different times of the day, and in different seasons of the year. We propose to test these
hypotheses: (1) The mass of bioavailable PAH movement between Superfund sediment-water and water-
atmosphere interfaces varies as a function of location, season and tide and (2) The advective flux of
bioavailable PAHs represents a significant fraction of the total PAH flux. We will deliver the first methods to
concurrently quantify spatial and temporal movement of bioavailable PAHs to and from a Superfund site from
sediment, water, and air. These methods will help EPA, remediators, and site managers to prioritize sites for
remediation, optimize remediation strategies for their sites, and evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies.
We propose to conduct the first passive sampling wristband measurements of external exposure to PAHs for
people near Superfund sites. This will give stakeholders and communities a quantitative understanding of
people's external exposure and its dependence on distance, geographic factors, housing, and personal
characteristics. Will also test external exposure to PAHs for the same individuals after remediation. We
propose to test these hypotheses: (3) In communities near Superfund sites, the magnitude of people's external
wristband measured exposure depends on their distance to the site, their housing characteristics, and their
time-activity patterns; and (4) Remediation of a Superfund site will diminish the community's external
exposure to PAHs. We will also convey real-world chemical mixtures from the wristbands to Tanguay and
Tilton, who will test the toxicity of the bioavailable mixtures in the zebrafish model and in human lung cell
cultures. We will collaborate with them in effects-directed analyses to identify toxic components of the
mixtures. In collaboration with the RT and CEC teams, we will describe to stakeholders and communities a)
how external exposure to PAH mixtures varies as a function of location near a Superfund site, b) which
components of the mixtures, if any, may threaten human health, and c) how remediation of a ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9841203
- **Project number:** 2P42ES016465-11
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kim A. Anderson
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $303,956
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** — → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9841203

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9841203, Developing and Evaluating Technology to Measure PAH Fate and Exposures (2P42ES016465-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9841203. Licensed CC0.

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