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Your Environment. Your Health.

Technology Profiles

Superfund Research Program

Below is a list of recent SRP grantee Technology Profiles featured in the quarterly Science Digest


RAPIMER schmatic showing artificial plant nanomaterial, fungus, and chemicals.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research: Plant-based PFAS remediation
March 2023

Scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research developed a novel technology that can efficiently bind to and break down per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment. Their approach combines a plant-based material that adsorbs PFAS and a fungus that can take up the chemicals.

Mayor of Newburyport, MA with CycloPure team.
CycloPure, Inc.: Detection and removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PAFS) from water
December 2022

CycloPure, Inc. has adapted their SRP-funded technology, DEXSORB+, into several products to detect and remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PAFS) from water. DEXSORB+ uses cup-shaped cyclodextrins, sugar molecules bound together into rings, to bind and remove PFAS.

Image of the sensor
Quantitative BioSciences, Inc.: Customizable continuous water monitoring
September 2022

Quantitative BioSciences, Inc., has developed a customizable sensor to continuously monitor water for arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, among other contaminants. A Business Innovation Research Grant from the NIEHS Superfund Research Program supported early work on the device.

Activated carbon pellets applied in the field
RemBac Environmental, LLC: Inoculated activated carbon pellets
June 2022

NIEHS Superfund Research Program-funded small business RemBac Environmental, LLC., developed a remediation technology to treat sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The technology uses activated carbon pellets containing microorganisms to degrade PCBs in sediments.

Meichen Wang working at a computer in a lab
Texas A&M: Edible therapeutic sorbent technology
March 2022

Timothy Phillips, Ph.D., and team at the Texas A&M University SRP Center developed therapeutic sorbent technology to reduce the ability of hazardous chemicals to harm the body. These edible sorbents decrease exposures by binding to chemicals, like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in the intestines.

graphic demonstrating nautral bioremediation being enhanced by solar energy to be faster, deeper, and more air-tolerant
UC Riverside & UC Los Angeles: Solar-powered material-microbe interface for PFAS
December 2021

Researchers at the University of California (UC), Riverside and UC Los Angeles are exploring how nanomaterials powered by solar electricity can accelerate the activity of bacteria used to clean up halogenated contaminants such as chlorinated solvents, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and 1,4-dioxane in groundwater.

TMVI display maps
Texas A&M, UC San Diego, & Brown: Toxics Mobility Vulnerability Index
September 2021

Researchers from the Texas A&M University (TAMU), Brown University, and University of California (UC) San Diego SRP Centers developed an online interactive dashboard, called the Toxics Mobility Vulnerability Index (TMVI). Their objective was to display how land use, such as green space or industrial land, interacts with extreme weather and sociodemographic characteristics to affect public health.

Graph of components x y and z
Microbial Insights: Workflow for chlorinated compound biodegradation
June 2021

Researchers at SRP-funded small business Microbial Insights use highly sensitive instruments to analyze metabolites, small molecules that result from different chemical and biological processes. Their goal is to provide key insights on site-specific conditions that affect the ability of bacteria to break down harmful contaminants in the environment.

Bluegrass Advanced Materials flocculants
Bluegrass Advanced Materials: Smart temperature-responsive flocculants for PFAS
March 2021

SRP-funded small business Bluegrass Advanced Materials developed smart temperature responsive copolymer flocculants to remove persistent water-soluble contaminants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), from water. The technology separates solids and liquids by forming flocs, larger aggregations of particles that can more easily be removed from water.

mercury monitor
Picoyune: Miniaturized mercury sensor
December 2020

Researchers at Picoyune, an SRP-funded small business, are developing a miniaturized, low-cost mercury sensor and applying it to personal exposure monitoring. The portable device is a good fit for testing in the field as there is no need for heavy lab equipment or carrier gas. It is also a practical mercury monitor for vulnerable artisanal/small-scale gold mining communities and recently won the 2020 Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge.

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Boston University: Integrative Epi-DNA and Gene Expression (iEDGE)
September 2020

Led by Stefano Monti, researchers at the Boston University SRP Center are developing computational tools that use short term toxicity tests to predict long term health outcomes. Their recent tool, iEdge, integrates data to predict changes to DNA that drive cancer.

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UC Davis: Immunoassays to detect hazardous chemicals
June 2020

To address high costs for analyzing toxic substances in the environment as well as the need for more sensitive indicators of exposure to humans, University of California (UC), Davis SRP Center researchers pioneered the use of immunoassay technologies to detect hazardous chemicals. Immunoassays use antibodies to bind to a chemical of interest, and labels on the antibodies measure the presence and concentration of the chemical.

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MIT: CometChip assay to detect DNA damage
March 2020

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) SRP Center researchers developed a new screening method that can detect a broad range of DNA damage in cells, including a common type of damage known as a bulky lesion. According to the researchers, this new method fills a gap in DNA damage testing and could make chemical safety testing faster, easier, and more accurate.

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Microvi Biotechnologies: MicroNiche Engineering platform for organic compounds
December 2019

Microvi Biotechnologies, Inc., an SRP-funded small business, has recently shown unprecedented removal rates of 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (TCP) and co-contaminants using its co-metabolism treatment technology. TCP, which was historically used in solvents and soil fumigants, can leech into groundwater and subsequently household drinking water. It has been associated with increased risk for cancer along with various illnesses, including liver or kidney disease.

DERBI Screenshot
Northeastern University: Mobile report-back app
September 2019

The Northeastern University Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) SRP Center and its partners at the Silent Spring Institute developed a mobile app to report individual research results back to study participants. The app was designed specifically for PROTECT and was adapted from the Silent Spring Institute's computer-based Digital Exposure Report-Back Interface (DERBI). App developers incorporated suggestions from PROTECT's Community Advisory Committee and Stakeholder Committee, which is composed of PROTECT participants. The DERBI app is available to study participants in both English and Spanish.

CycloPure technology
CycloPure, Inc: DEXSORB+ PFAS removal
June 2019

SRP-funded small business CycloPure, Inc., has developed a new product, DEXSORB+, which works to rapidly remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminated water supplies. CycloPure recently announced that in addition to SRP funding, they have raised an additional $3.5 million to accelerate the commercialization of their DEXSORB products. This will help them to make the technology available to consumers and municipal drinking water plants impacted by PFAS and other contaminants.

Passive Sampling Device
UNC Chapel Hill: Composite Integrative Passive Sampler
March 2019

Damian Shea, Ph.D., has invented a novel, patent-pending concept for fabricating a mixed-phase polymer passive sampling device as part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SRP Center. The device, known as the Composite Integrative Passive Sampler (CIPS), measures chronic exposure to and bioavailability of chemicals and their metabolites. Shea also has created a new start-up company, Statera Environmental, Inc., to develop, market, and distribute this technology.

Poplar trees
Edenspace Systems Corp: Endophytes in poplar trees degrade TCE
December 2018

SRP small business grantees at Edenspace Systems Corporation developed a method using endophytes, symbiotic microbes that live within plants, to boost poplar trees' speed and effectiveness at capturing and removing trichloroethylene (TCE) from groundwater and then degrading it.

Glycosurf, LLC
Glycosurf LLC: Green surfactants to remove heavy metals
September 2018

Researchers at Glycosurf, LLC are developing green surfactants for efficient and cost-effective removal of heavy metals and rare earth elements from wastewater.

PowerTech Water
PowerTech Water LLC: INICION metals filtration
June 2018

Researchers at PowerTech Water LLC are developing an affordable and widely adoptable solution to remove lead and other toxic metals from drinking water.

EnChem Engineering, Inc.
EnChem Engineering: Two-phase PFAS removal process
March 2018

As part of an SRP small business project, researchers at EnChem Engineering, Inc., are developing a technology to expedite removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from soil and groundwater.

BioCement
Technology Profile: BioCement Technologies
November 2017

As part of an SRP-funded small business project, researchers at Biocement Technologies are developing a way to stimulate native soil bacteria to cement together particles in soil, including heavy metals, locking them into structures so they cannot migrate into groundwater.

Picoyune's mercury-detection device
Technology Profile: Picoyune
August 2017

Researchers at Picoyune, an SRP-funded small business, are developing a reliable, portable, and easy-to-use device to detect mercury in solid and liquid samples. They hope the device will replace complex and costly equipment used to monitor mercury before and during remediation at contaminated sites.

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Technology Profile: Airlift Environmental LLC, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska
May 2017

Researchers at Airlift Environmental LLC, an SRP-funded small business, are developing slow-release permanganate candles to remove trichloroethylene (TCE) from groundwater through a chemical reaction.

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Technology Profile: Lynntech, Inc.
February 2017

Researchers at Lynntech, an SRP-funded small business, are developing a field deployable vapor intrusion monitor that pre-concentrates volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with high selectivity.

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