SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — University of Rhode Island and Harvard University professors are collaborating through a new research center to study chemicals that have contaminated water at sites nationwide.
The chemicals, called perfluorinated chemicals, have been linked to cancer and other illnesses. Water has been contaminated near sites of industrial facilities and U.S. military bases.
URI announced Tuesday that it received a five-year, $8 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish a center focused on gaining a better understanding of how these chemicals make their way into water, through the food chain, and affect people and animals.
They will work with communities in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where contamination has been an issue. They also want to develop new detection tools.
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