Aboveground clues to find hidden VOC vapors in cities
Official title: E1 - Building Aboveground Strategies to Identify and Address Belowground Hot Spots for VOC Vapor Intrusion in Complex Urban Settings
Funded at Wayne State University · NIH-11394809 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A project at Wayne State University will use plants to help find hidden VOC contamination in urban soils and link it to indoor air quality in basements.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wayne State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Detroit, United States) |
| Project start | September 8, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $385,982 |
| NIH project number | 5P42ES030991-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11394809 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates include residents living in post-industrial urban areas with concerns about indoor air quality and potential soil or groundwater VOC contamination.
✕Less likely to help
Residents in areas without VOC concerns or those not experiencing indoor air quality issues may not benefit.
What this research studies
In complex urban areas, toxic VOCs can seep into buildings from the ground, but locating these underground hotspots is expensive and challenging. This grant tests a novel, plant-based method in a geospatial framework to spot where VOCs may be concentrated by analyzing plant tissues and their water pathways. The work has three aims: map VOC hot spots from aboveground plant data, trace the underground water sources feeding urban plants, and confirm that underground VOCs align with what’s found in indoor air. If successful, this approach could make identifying risky sites quicker and cheaper, potentially reducing residents’ exposure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could lead to faster detection of problematic sites and cleaner indoor air for people living near urban contamination.
How similar studies have gone: This approach builds on prior work showing plant tissues can reflect environmental contaminants, but the aboveground–belowground linkage in urban VOC hotspots is still developing.
Where this research is happening
-
Wayne State University
Detroit, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hood, Glen Ray — Wayne State University
- Study coordinator: Hood, Glen Ray
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.