The Community Environmental Health Laboratory at MDI Biological Lab, in a unique collaboration with Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and multiple community partners in Maine, is doing a Community Engaged Research Project to study the relationship between various health metrics and blood-level PFAS in children and family members who were exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water at Tremont Elementary School and/or Mount Desert Island High School. As part of our study, we tested home drinking water and administered a home drinking water and dietary survey to assess other sources of PFAS exposure. This was followed by blood testing and cardiometabolic measurements to look for relationships between PFAS exposure and health. Our approach may inform other rural communities in Maine and nationwide where residents have been exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water in their schools and/or at home.
We are currently in phases 6 and 7 of the pilot project: We have completed sample collection, are analyzing the data, and are reporting findings to the community. Overall results will be reported on this page.
Attention PULSE Project Participants
Check out this walkthrough video (below) about accessing, viewing, and understanding your blood test results!
If you are interested in participating in future studies:
Contact Dr. Jane Disney
jdisney@mdibl.org
207-288-9880 ext. 423
To ensure confidentiality, we are not using a sign-up form in the recruitment process. Please send an email or call to schedule an initial meeting, either in person, online, or by phone.
Timeline
January 2025
A community meeting was held at the Tremont Consolidated School to discuss submitting a Research to Action Grant application to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Attendees indicated their interest through an online survey.
February 2025
The NIEHS Research to Action Grant for “PFAS Understanding in Local Schools and Environments” (PULSE), was submitted.
Morris Discovery Fund Pilot Award received from MDIBL
The pilot award enabled us to initiate the PULSE project with 20 participants.
May 2025
IRB Human Subjects Approval
We received IRB approval to recruit families for the PULSE study.
June-August 2025
Recruitment for Pilot Study
We began enrolling the first 20 participants in the project.
September-DECEMBER 2025
We began blood testing and assessing other health metrics, collected drinking water samples, and administered the drinking water and dietary survey to participating families.
JANUARY-March 2026
We reported results to participants and began analyzing data.
JULY 16, 2026
Community meeting: Bass Harbor Memorial Library, 5-6:30 pm. We discussed the outcomes of well water testing in Tremont, findings from the PULSE project, and discussed next steps. A Zoom recording is HERE.
Background
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or “forever chemicals” are soil, surface water, and groundwater contaminants found in many areas of the U.S. and worldwide. They are used in various consumer products, such as non-stick cookware, stain-resistant carpeting, floor waxes, and detergents. In a nationwide study of private and public drinking water sources, at least one forever chemical was found in 45% of samples. These chemicals are known to adversely affect human health and disrupt both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Since June 2023, the Community Lab at MDI Biological Laboratory has been implementing a community-engaged approach to understanding the sources of PFAS contamination of wells in the neighborhoods surrounding two rural schools. In collaboration with PFAS Laboratories, the state’s first commercial PFAS testing laboratory, we are assisting residents near schools and in the wider community in collecting their well water for PFAS analysis.
As part of our community-engaged project, drinking water PFAS data are uploaded to the Maine PFAS Monitoring project on our citizen science data portal, Anecdata, for data management and sharing. We have created an interactive online PFAS map with drinking water test results to facilitate community-level conversations. We will continue to use these tools to facilitate data sharing and problem-solving.
The Research to Action grant for the planned project, “PFAS Understanding in Local Schools and Environments (PULSE),” unfortunately was not funded. However, pilot funds awarded through MDI Biological Laboratory’s Morris Discovery Fund enabled us to establish protocols and generate preliminary data for a new grant submission.
We completed the pilot project with 20 participants, providing feedback and analyzing data. Project evaluators have been conducting interviews, and we shared preliminary findings with Tremont residents at the Community Meeting on July 16, 2026.
Investigators
Dr. Jane Disney, Associate Professor in Environmental Health and Director of the Community Environmental Health Laboratory (Community Lab) at MDI Biological Laboratory, has a strong background in community engagement and citizen science on Mt. Desert Island and beyond. She is the Principal Investigator of an NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), through which she has engaged teachers and students from Maine and New Hampshire to collect over 4,500 drinking water samples for analysis of arsenic and other toxic metals since 2016. Dr. Disney is the co-developer of Anecdata, a citizen science data portal for managing and sharing environmental data, which will host the well water dataset derived from the proposed project.
Dr. Megan Romano, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, is an epidemiologist with extensive experience leading studies on the health effects of PFAS exposure. She is an advisor to the PULSE pilot project and will conduct data analyses.
Dr. Richard Hilliard is an environmental engineer and postdoctoral researcher in the Community Lab. He has experience in PFAS mitigation and in engaging communities to address environmental concerns. He will serve as a key member of the pilot study and will be involved in data collection and reporting to families.
Dr. Katherine (Kate) Weatherford Darling, Assistant Professor of Health Science in the School of Nursing, is a health science researcher working across the boundaries of medical sociology, science studies, public health, and bioethics. She is an Assistant Professor of Health Science in the School of Nursing and a Graduate Faculty member at the Graduate School at the University of Maine, Orono. She and her students will conduct interviews with project participants to assess their experiences.
Alejandro Fernández Snell graduated from the University of Maine in 2026 with a degree in Anthropology. He assisted with participant interviews and the evaluation of the PULSE project.
Caitlin Oliver-Olsen is the SEPA Outreach Coordinator and Research Manager at the Community Lab and is involved in data collection and community engagement.
Léo Charbonneau is an undergraduate student in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic, focusing their studies on the intersection of healthcare and environmental justice. Léo is a research fellow at the Community Lab involved in data collection and community engagement.
Anna St. Jean is an undergraduate student in Public Health at Wheaton College; she is involved in evaluating the project by conducting participant and stakeholder interviews. She is also reaching out to residents to get wells tested and planning community meetings to keep everyone informed.
Emma McDonald, a recent graduate of George Mason University and an AmeriCorps Environmental Steward in the Community Lab, will support the PULSE project through October 2026.