Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Microbial Populations in PFHxSAm (perfluorohexane sulfonamido propyl amine) Biodegradation Microcosms

Metadata Updated: September 23, 2025

Water resources around the world are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) due to releases from point sources on military installations, fire training centers, and chemical manufacturing sites. Non-point sources have also been identified including wastewater effluent, landfills, and biosolids application. PFAS are a major concern to myriad stakeholders as some are known to bioaccumulate, they have eco-toxicity effects, and they are highly recalcitrant. PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” due to their environmental persistence but many precursor PFAS are transformed in the environment by microbes. Recent work has shown that PFAS can be biologically degraded in laboratory studies, but the microbial populations catalyzing degradation are poorly characterized. We conducted laboratory microcosm experiments to investigate the biotransformation of perfluorohexane sulfonamido propyl amine (PFHxSAm), a predominant precursor in 3M Aqueous Film Forming Foam (3M AFFF), by native microbial populations in upwelling sediment-water slurries from Ashumet Pond, MA. Ashumet Pond is affected by multiple PFAS-contaminated groundwater plumes from Joint Base Cape Cod, MA. The field collected samples were used to construct aerobic microcosms for monitoring PFHxSAm biodegradation. Microbial community composition was analyzed at 4 timepoints using Illumina 16S rRNA gene iTag sequencing and quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Experiments were performed in triplicate and abiotic controls were included in each experiment. The data release contains the results of Illumina iTag sequencing and qPCR for microbial community characterization. Four tables are provided that describe the experimental bottles, the results of DNA quantification, the results of biomass estimates using qPCR, and the taxonomic data based on sequencing results (provided as a biom file).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 23, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 23, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-62a36f05d34ec53d2770bd60
Data Last Modified 2022-11-18T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 35b57e91-0c62-4a73-a4d5-cd4f568eeaea
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -70.6448, 41.6154, -70.4141, 41.7877
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash e3a328aff5550b7dc24a4db6f26ed6f59dd58b2d231550b793d3a32b5cc8bdcc
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -70.6448, 41.6154, -70.6448, 41.7877, -70.4141, 41.7877, -70.4141, 41.6154, -70.6448, 41.6154}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.