2024 18th Annual Conference
PFAS and Pesticides:
Exploring Threats to People, Food, Water, and Ecosystems
Session 1 Presenters – November19th
Keynote: Linda Birnbaum, PhD
When a Pesticide is a PFAS…
Toxicologist; Scholar in Residence in the Environ-mental Sciences & Policy Division, Duke University
Dr. Birnbaum will discuss what are PFAS, why they are problematic, and problems with pesticides which are PFAS.
Linda S. Birnbaum, Scientist Emeritus, is Former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. She is also a Scholar in Residence in the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University. Dr. Birnbaum is a recipient of more than 100 awards, and author of more than 1,000 publications. Prior to becoming NIEHS Director, she was in charge of US EPA’s largest health research division.
Pilot Study Assessing the Co-Occurence of Pesticides and PFAS in Agricultural Watersheds
Emily Woodward, PhD
Research Scientist, US Geological Survey
This talk will summarize a recent USGS study focused on the potential co-occurrence of pesticides and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at surface water sites in California that are dominated by agricultural inputs. Pilot samples were collected at ten sites that are representative of agriculture land use, various crop types, and diverse pesticide applications. Water samples were collected in May and July of 2024 during target pesticide applications. Surface water results from both sampling efforts will be presented.
Emily Woodward is a Research Physical Scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Her research focuses on the fate and transport of emerging contaminants in the environment. Emily has a B.A. (Geology and Environmental Science) from the University of Akron and an M.S. (Soil Science) and Ph.D. (Soil Science and Biogeochemistry) from Pennsylvania State University. Emily started her career at the USGS California Water Science Center in 2016, working on research related to pesticide and nutrient transport in agricultural systems. In 2021, Emily moved back east and joined the Pennsylvania Water Science Center at their Pittsburgh Field Office. Her research on soil and water quality now spans beyond pesticides and nutrients and includes per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Her and her colleagues at USGS are trying to determine the fate of PFAS in surface waters, potential sources of PFAS, and potential environmental health effects.
Update on the Chesapeake Bay Program
Greg Allen, PhD
Sr. Environmental Scientist, Chesapeake Bay Program
Greg Allen is an environmental scientist in the US Environmental Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Office. He has served as an EPA environmental scientist for more than 30 years. He is Coordinator of CBP’s Toxic Contaminants Workgroup, and Coordinator of the Partnering, Leadership, and Management Team of CBP. He also is Watershed Implementation Plan Lead for Federal Agencies. Dr. Allen is a recipient of the White House Closing the Circle Award for leadership in implementation of environmental management systems. He is also a scientist with experience in analytical chemistry, ecological risk assessment, chemical contaminant issues in Chesapeake Bay, and environmental data quality assurance. For the past eighteen years, he has led the Pesticides & the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Project’s Research & Data Gaps Working Group and been the moderator of the Project’s annual conferences.
Session 2 Presenters – December 3, 2024
Land Use Associations and Sources of PFAS in Smallmouth Bass in Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Vicki Blazer, PhD
Research Fishery Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Based on her significant recently accepted paper, Dr. Blazer will cover the land cover land/use associations, what USGS saw regarding PFAS in smallmouth bass in the Chesapeake Watershed, discuss potential sources, and some associations they are seeing with effects.
Vicki Blazer joined the National Fish Health Research Laboratory, Leetown Science Center (now the Eastern Ecological Science Center – Leetown Research Laboratory), Kearneysville, WV in 1992. She was previously employed as the Assistant Leader of the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. She is active in numerous research projects within the Northeast as well as nationally and internationally. She is active in the American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section and a member of other scientific societies. She is an adjunct faculty member at West Virginia University and Penn State and serves on graduate student committees. Research areas include development of microscopic and molecular markers for understanding changes in the health and populations of wild fishes. Areas of focus include endocrine disruption, emerging diseases, fish tumor pathology and assessment at Great Lakes Areas of Concern, land use influences on fish health, reproduction and immunomodulation.
Forever Pesticides and their Forever Pieces: Environmental Presence and Implications
Alexis Temkin, PhD
Senior Toxicologist, Environmental Working Group
In collaboration with colleagues (Center for Biological Diversity, PEER, and EWG), Dr. Temkin co-authored a paper recently published in Environmental Health Perspectives on the presence of PFAS in pesticides, and the implications for public health and policy. This talk will focus on the presence of these chemicals, as well as their degradation products, primarily the ultra-short chain PFAS trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, in the environment, including water and food.
Alexis Temkin supports Environmental Working Group’s consumer databases, policy and research in the areas of personal care and cleaning products, pesticides and tap water. Temkin began her research career at Columbia University Medical Center, working as a lab technician studying the molecular mechanisms responsible for environmental influence on gene regulation. As a doctoral student, she studied how exposure to environmental chemicals during development can influence adult obesity and metabolic syndrome.
PFAS Contamination in Human Blood
Ana Rule, PhD
Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and its Director, Environmental Exposure Assessment Labs
As principal investigator of the study, Dr. Rule will share preliminary findings of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health-Md. Pesticide Education Network pilot study to assess PFAS in the blood of Maryland residents.
Ana Rule, PhD focuses on the development and evaluation of novel sampling and analysis strategies for assessments of exposure to biological aerosols, e-cigarette aerosols, and particulate matter.
