EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University scientists in East Lansing have $400,000 in state money to find out how so-called forever chemicals travel through Michigan farm fields and what growers can do about it.
The money was awarded by the state’s agriculture department, known as MDARD. The work is led by Subhasis Giri, an assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, and includes researchers and outreach staff from Purdue University.
PFAS are a broad family of man-made chemicals that break down very slowly. They show up in nonstick pans, waterproof gear and stain-resistant carpet and furniture, and they can reach farmland when they wash down drains, pass through wastewater plants and end up in fertilizer spread on fields.
Rather than a lab study, the team plans to collect soil in working fields and trace the chemicals’ path into groundwater and the crops themselves, then test ways to limit the damage. The project started in September and is set to run through 2030.
State and MSU officials said PFAS contamination is not common on Michigan farms today. The goal, they said, is to have answers and help ready for the growers whose land is affected.
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