Indigenous research team shows hemp can clean up PFAS

In Maine, scientists from the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, an indigenous tribe located in Northern Maine, have found that hemp can remove notorious forever chemical PFAS from soil.

Chelli Stanley and the tribe’s Vice Chief, Richard Silliboy, found that hemp’s thick roots absorbed the chemicals into their shoots. The plants grew quickly and without much water, and the fact that hemp doesn’t shed leaves or get eaten by animals helped ensure the PFAS wasn’t simply extracted from the soil and deposited elsewhere. 

“Having the earth as clean as possible is the job of all Native Americans,” Vice Chief Silliboy said in a 2020 interview with Fast Company. “The ground is being abused in many ways by companies that dump waste all over the place. It’s very concerning to tribes across the country, and it’s up to Native Americans to take care of Mother Earth.”

The work was carried out at Loring Air Force Base, a Superfund site the US government gave to the Micmacs tribe in 2009.