From left, UMass Lowell faculty Dhimiter Bello and Anila Bello, and Research Assistant Kushal Biswas / UMASS LOWELL PHOTO

UMass Lowell Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Dhimiter Bello and Public Health Research Associate Professor Anila Bello, both in the university’s Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, have received a $600,000 grant from The Center for Construction Research and Training, which is funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The grant will support the researchers’ work identifying exposure levels among construction workers, as well as products that contain the most toxic PFAS.

The team includes Research Assistant Kushal Biswas of Dracut, who is working toward a UMass Lowell doctoral degree in pharmaceutical sciences.

“This is the first study to systematically document PFAS exposures in the construction sector,” said Anila Bello. “We will perform a comprehensive assessment of PFAS present in workers, the sources of the exposure and how PFAS enter the body.”

The research team will measure PFAS levels in hundreds of construction workers. By pairing this information with the identification of PFAS in common construction products, the team will identify the most likely PFAS sources, as well as the workers most at risk.

In collaboration with the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) organization, the researchers will recruit hundreds of workers to be tested for PFAS presence, how long the substances have been in the body and whether they were ingested.

To understand the source of PFAS, the researchers will collect information from workers about their diets, their lifestyles and where they live. This survey data will help account for nonoccupational exposure, such as water sources and food contamination. Dhimiter Bello, who will test PFAS in more than 100 construction products, developed the analytical methods for quantifying PFAS in firefighting foams in a previous study. The results of that study underpin the transition to PFAS-free firefighting foams.

For the team’s latest work, “our goal is to reduce and, when possible, eliminate PFAS exposures at the source and ultimately to minimize health risks among those who work in construction and allied trades,” Dhimiter Bello said. “This, in turn, is expected to reduce PFAS-related occupational diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, liver and kidney diseases.”

Added to products for their unique properties and strong chemical bonds, PFAS allow products to stick to surfaces and repel water. While these capabilities improve the performance of building materials, these same properties make the substances harmful to humans, soil and marine life. PFAS persist in the body and the environment, putting humans at risk for kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid function, higher blood lipids, Type 2 diabetes, immune system suppression and kidney and liver damage.

An advisory board that will include representatives from the NABTU, the construction industry, academia, NIOSH and the Center for Construction Research and Training, will be established as part of the project. Once the research is completed, the team will develop guidelines for reducing PFAS exposure among workers.