Soil-derived Heavy Metals and PFAS in Maple Sap: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | If maple trees are growing in areas with a history of contamination, is it safe to make syrup from their sap? That is the question driving an interdisciplinary, USDA-funded research project called "Safe Sugar for All".  Emily "Zig" Sigman, a PhD student at Dartmouth, is currently traveling all over New England collecting sap and soil samples from 100 different maple trees in forests, on farms, in backyards, and on college campuses--including Bennington. She works with partners at Yale University and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station to test these samples for heavy metals and PFAS.  The team also runs laboratory experiments to monitor how different processing techniques affect contamination concentrations, and to explore potential methods for removing contamination through filtering.  Emily uses a Participatory Action Research approach to identify appropriate sites for sampling, and plans to employ other qualitative research methods to ask deeper questions emerging from her quantitative studies.  During the talk, Emily will share more about the community-based origins of the research project, give an overview of the research progress so far, and elaborate on her hopes--and hesitations--about sugaring in polluted landscapes.