New Method Can Break Down 95% of Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Water in Just 45 Minutes

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” are a family of over 4,700 chemicals not found in nature. They do not break down and can be found not only in the environment, but also in the blood and breast milk of people and animals around the world. They are dangerous to our health and, until now, a seemingly unsolvable problem. Recently, however, a group of scientists at University of California Riverside discovered a simple, low-energy way to degrade these chemicals.

Scientists Discover A Way Of Degrading Forever Chemicals

PFAS, the infamous forever chemicals, are bad news. Used in paper and cardboard food packaging, non-stick cookware, textiles, cosmetics, fire fighting foams, and electronics, these chemicals don’t break down in nature and persist in the environment for, well, ever. They then make their way into our water systems and eventually into our own bodies. Scientists have found them in both blood and breast milk of humans and animals all around the world. (1)

Having these chemicals floating around in our bodies is bad news. They affect our health in several ways. Scientists have found them to be endocrine disruptors, meaning that they interfere with our hormonal system. They can interfere with the reproductive system and the normal development of a fetus. Forever chemicals have shown to impact the immune system and are linked to a reduced response to vaccines in children. Finally, they can promote the development of certain kinds of cancers. This is only what we know as of now. 

The New Discovery That Could Make Getting Rid Of Forever Chemicals A Possibility

Many have thought that figuring out a way of breaking down forever chemicals was an impossible task. A team of researchers at Northwestern University, however, decided to try anyway. Excitingly, they succeeded – somewhat. They have figured out a low-energy, simple way to break not all, but some, forever chemicals. (2)

From there, scientists from the University of California (UC) Riverside built off of that, discovering an alternative method that does the job even further. The UC Riverside scientists’ method supercharges the destruction of forever chemicals in water. They used UV light and hydrogen gas to break down these chemicals that are found in our drinking supply. The best part of this process, the scientists say, is that it is sustainable and doesn’t produce any unwanted byproducts itself.

A Two-Part Problem

There are essentially two parts to solving the forever chemical problem. The first of these is actually removing the chemicals from the environmental resources. This includes drinking water as well as contaminated groundwater and soils. The second and hardest part is disposing of or destroying the concentrated PFAS that we collect, all without creating any other harmful byproducts in the process. Burning them, for example, is effective but expensive and risks spreading them further.

How The New Method Works

This new process from the scientists at UC Riverside, however, avoids all of that. First, they bubble hydrogen gas through contaminated water to ionize the water molecules. This creates a reactive species that then attacks the strong bonds holding the forever chemicals together. They also blast the water with short-wavelength, high-energy UV light to speed up these chemical reactions to make them more useful in industrial applications.

As of now, they have only tested on small amounts of water, no more than 500ml at once, and only water that had two types of PFAS in it. The results, however, were highly promising. They achieved near complete degradation of the chemicals quickly and using less electrical energy. The scientists successfully degraded 95% of the chemicals within 45 minutes, and with a bit more time they degraded 97% of the chemicals. The researchers say, however, that they aren’t done yet. PFAS are dangerous even in small amounts, so they won’t stop until they’ve successfully broken down 100% of the forever chemicals.

“We are optimizing it by trying to make this technology versatile for a wide range of PFAS-contaminated source waters,” Liu says. “The technology has shown very promising results in the destruction of PFAS in both drinking water and different types of industrial wastewater.”

Most scientists agree that likely the fool-proof solution isn’t just one, but rather a variety of different methods. These are promising results, however, and a sign that perhaps we can look forward to a forever chemical-free future. Until then, we need to continue to create regulations that prevent these chemicals from being used at all.