Science at the Shoreline: Building a PFAS Research Network for Maine’s Future 

It’s an overcast day in Brunswick, but silvery sunlight is shining down at Wharton Point. A cluster of red-winged blackbirds sings in the sumac trees above piles of clam shells by the town landing, evidence of one of many human activities here that has gone on for thousands of years and continues today. The tide is low, and canoes full of clamming gear are strewn about the marsh above the glistening mudflats.

A few steps from the town landing, a culvert directs a small stream into Casco Bay. The water is clear, not surprising as the area isn’t highly developed, and the town landing is the destination point for most traffic on the road. Yet, despite how pristine this ecosystem appears, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, or “forever chemicals”) levels in the stream water are elevated for six different kinds of PFAS compounds.

PFAS levels across Casco Bay are generally low—an encouraging sign for local shellfish harvesters and consumers alike – something we would not know were it not for research carried out by Dr. Christoph Aeppli of Bigelow Labs, and funded by Maine Sea Grant.

In 2022, Aeppli was granted $123,428 from Maine Sea Grant to conduct research on PFAS in estuaries, such as this one. His project included field studies to measure levels of PFAS in coastal marine ecosystems and investigate how those chemicals make their way into estuaries. He also had laboratory studies to gain a better understanding of how PFAS may affect shellfish by measuring how much of the chemicals accumulate in blue mussels and determine how long they stay in the tissue after exposure. Aeppli’s research has implications for humans, ecosystems, and wildlife alike, including the snowy egret tiptoeing through the marsh off in the distance.

Building a Network

Aeppli says that when he began this research in 2023, Maine had been doing a good job characterizing PFAS in the terrestrial world and agricultural systems, but that far less was known about how PFAS function in coastal ecosystems and waterways. “We knew that PFAS end up in coastal ecosystems, but not much was known about how much, where they’re distributed, what concentrations, and what sources are the most important ones,” Aeppli explains.

As Friends of Casco Bay already had a long-term water quality monitoring program in place, collaborating with them to carry out the study was a straightforward solution. They tested from May through October in 2023 and 2024 to understand how variable PFAS levels and distribution were over the year across the entire Casco Bay estuary. Another colleague, Bigelow colleague Dr. Doug Rasher, was already surveying kelp forests along the Maine coast all the way from Portland to Machias and added PFAS sampling to his surveys as well.

The gathering—and sharing—of this initial data and the corresponding emergent literature around PFAS in Maine’s coastal ecosystems, says Aeppli, made it possible for the growing network of PFAS researchers, concerned citizens, and policymakers to know what further questions they should ask and determine what their next steps should be.

Addressing Community Needs

The baseline data around PFAS levels and distribution across coastal ecosystems developed through this Maine Sea Grant-funded project has created opportunities to address both urgent and long-term local coastal community needs.

In August 2024, when the major firefighting foam (AFFF) spill happened at the Brunswick Naval Air Station—the largest PFAS contamination in Maine—Aeppli and his team (including members of FCOB) had just begun sampling in the area as part of their previously mentioned three-year study on PFAS levels in Casco Bay. This meant that they had an unusual tool at their fingertips—PFAS baseline data.

In response to the spill, Aeppli and FCOB immediately expanded their sampling area to better understand the risks of contamination for marine life as well as people, complementing the research being done by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Utilizing the protocols they’d developed, they were able to quickly monitor additional sites and provide data that could be shared with the public, who had questions about the safety of drinking water, clamming, fishing, swimming, and other recreation. Fortunately, their research shows that PFAS levels in Harpswell Cove have come down since the spill, though levels in Mare Brook remain elevated. Monitoring across the affected watershed continues through a multi-year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/National Estuaries Program-funded project.

Additional capacity, built thanks to the Maine Sea Grant funding, is also being leveraged to seek funding for a new project assessing PFAS and heavy metals in fish tissue, sediment, and water across a large span of watersheds with many different fish species—inland, ground fish, as well as shellfish. A colleague of Aeppli’s from Bigelow is working closely with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at the Sipayik Environmental Department to collect preliminary samples to better understand PFAS levels in water within the Skutik River watershed. As the department is working to reintroduce native fish species, Bigelow Labs and other researchers can provide data on PFAS levels to enable their departments to make informed choices about which rivers to focus on. “There’s been a lot of movement regarding regulations around PFAS in drinking water, but when it comes to fish, there’s nowhere near that level of action. We’re hoping to fill in some of the important data gaps,” says Chris Soctomah, fisheries biologist with the Sipayik Environmental Department.

The Power of Collaboration

Maine is one of the leading states in the nation confronting PFAS through research and legislation to better protect the public as well as ecosystems. To date, only six states have put forth or are considering legislation that considers PFAS criteria in state water quality standards, including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Working on PFAS issues can be daunting—they’re called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent in the environment and do not readily break down. Yet the term “forever” might also be applicable as a descriptor of how researchers working on PFAS come to feel about their commitment to contributing to this growing body of knowledge. Aeppli divides his time working on PFAS issues between sampling in the field and processing data in the Bigelow lab. Sampling campaigns, which are often carried out in partnership with other organizations or in teams, provide researchers with an opportunity to meaningfully engage with Maine’s beautiful coastal ecosystems, the people and animals who reside there, and remind them why protecting them is so important.

“You can’t just do this research and walk away,” says Heather Kenyon, Friends of Casco Bay’s Science and Advocacy Associate, referring both to the need for long-term studies to address the long-term impacts of PFAS in coastal ecosystems as well as the sense of responsibility researchers feel. “The fact that PFAS is getting a lot of attention is encouraging. None of the entities working on this could do it alone. We don’t have the protocol for collecting, storing, shipping, and analyzing shellfish, for example, but Bigelow does. In turn, we have a knowledge of Casco Bay and close relationships within the community that lent wonderfully to this monitoring partnership with Bigelow. It’s imperative that researchers work together to get the best data sets possible.”

Dr. Christina Murphy, Assistant Professor and Assistant Unit Leader–Fisheries, USGS Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, whom Aeppli reached out to collaborate with when the study first began in 2023, says, “It’s wonderful to be a part of broader efforts. The more researchers that work on a problem, the more likely we are to see approaches from many angles and the more data we can use to make informed studies.”

Aeppli’s Maine Sea Grant-funded PFAS work demonstrates the impact and importance of filling in data gaps and enhancing critical knowledge that empowers researchers to work collaboratively, enabling public and private sectors to make data-informed decisions that support ecosystems, industries, and communities at large.