When Persistence Doesn’t Pay Off:
Integrative Approaches to Understand and Predict the Hazards of Poorly Studied Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Webinar Summary

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an enormous environmental challenge due to their widespread use, high persistence and mobility, and ability to disrupt multiple biological systems. Yet high-quality data on their toxicological effects was long constrained to a handful of well-studies substances. Now, as scientists and regulators seek to expand our knowledge to more PFAS, including those that are relevant to many current industrial and consumer uses, the lack of available high quality standards and even full descriptions of chemical identities hampers progress in risk prioritization and exposure mitigation. This talk will briefly review the landscape of what we do and don’t know about PFAS toxicity and discuss integrative in vitro and computational approaches to broaden our understanding about these important environmental contaminants.

Speaker Profile

Dr. Carla Ng is an Associate Professor and Fulton C. Noss Faculty Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, with secondary appointments in Environmental and Occupational Health and in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.  She received her PhD in Chemical & Biological Engineering from Northwestern University in 2008. Her research focuses on the development of computational and in vitro approaches to evaluate the fate and effects of legacy and emerging chemicals in organisms and ecosystems, with a particular focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Through interdisciplinary, cross-sector collaborations her group works to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals in products and processes to protect public and ecosystem health.

Webinar Format

This webinar will include a moderated Q and A session following the speaker’s presentation. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Click here to register for this event.