** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PFAS, A GROUP OF MAN-MADE CHEMICALS FOUND IN NUMEROUS EVERYDAY PRODUCTS, ARE RECOGNIZED AS EMERGING CONTAMINANTS DUE TO THEIR WIDESPREAD USE AND PERSISTENCE. THEY HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS, INCLUDING WATER SOURCES AND SEAFOOD. BIVALVES, SUCH AS CLAMS AND OYSTERS, CAN ACCUMULATE PFAS FROM CONTAMINATED WATERS, POTENTIALLY POSING RISKS TO CONSUMERS. WHILE POST-HARVEST DEPURATION PROCEDURES SHOW PROMISE IN REDUCING PFAS LEVELS IN BIVALVES, SIGNIFICANT VARIATIONS EXIST IN THEIR EFFECTIVENESS, AND THE FACTORS INFLUENCING PFAS ELIMINATION REMAIN UNCLEAR. ADDITIONALLY, THERE'S A SHIFT TOWARDS NEWER PFAS COMPOUNDS WITH A LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR BIOACCUMULATION DYNAMICS. ADDRESSING THESE GAPS, A PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP TOOLS FOR PREDICTING PFAS LEVELS IN PRE-HARVEST BIVALVES AND DEVELOP EFFECTIVE POST-HARVEST STRATEGIESTO LOWER PFAS LEVELS IN EDIBLE BIVALVES.THIS RESEARCH PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP TOOLS FOR BOTH DETECTING PFAS LEVELS IN BIVALVES BEFORE HARVESTING AND REDUCING THESE LEVELS POST-HARVEST. THIS STUDY SEEKS TO ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PFAS ACCUMULATION IN BIVALVES BY INVESTIGATING HOW VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCE PFAS UPTAKE AND ELIMINATION IN BIVALVES THROUGH FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS.ADDITIONALLY, EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO EXPLORE EFFECTIVE POST-HARVEST METHODS FOR REDUCING PFAS LEVELS IN BIVALVES, INCLUDING DEPURATION UNDER DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THE FINDINGS WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PREDICTIVE MODELS AND PRACTICAL STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE PFAS CONTAMINATION IN BIVALVES HARVESTED FROM COASTAL AREAS, CONTRIBUTING TO FOOD SAFETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH.