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Scientists have invented a new way to destroy toxic substances known as “forever chemicals” that have become widespread in waterways around the world, presenting risks to human health and biodiversity, reports a recent study. The technique successfully broke down 95 percent of the pernicious chemicals, called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in just 45 minutes.
PFAS compounds are a complex group of chemicals that were first commercially manufactured in the 1940s, and quickly became ubiquitous in products such as cosmetics, cookware, textiles, among countless others.
In recent decades, scientists have discovered that PFAS take an extremely long time to break down in water, a problem that has led to global contamination of groundwater, rainwater, drinking water, and other systems. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to ecological damage and a host of human health problems, including certain cancers, which has galvanized researchers across many fields to find new ways of removing these toxic chemicals from water systems.
Now, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), have presented ”a promising platform to treat PFAS-contaminated drinking water sources” that uses hydrogen and UV-light to obliterate some of these chemicals, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters.
“We are optimizing it by trying to make this technology versatile for a wide range of PFAS-contaminated source waters,” said study author Haizhou Liu, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UCR, in a statement. “The technology has shown very promising results in the destruction of PFAS in both drinking water and different types of industrial wastewater.”
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PFAS compounds are a complex group of chemicals that were first commercially manufactured in the 1940s, and quickly became ubiquitous in products such as cosmetics, cookware, textiles, among countless others.
In recent decades, scientists have discovered that PFAS take an extremely long time to break down in water, a problem that has led to global contamination of groundwater, rainwater, drinking water, and other systems. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to ecological damage and a host of human health problems, including certain cancers, which has galvanized researchers across many fields to find new ways of removing these toxic chemicals from water systems.
Now, scientists at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), have presented ”a promising platform to treat PFAS-contaminated drinking water sources” that uses hydrogen and UV-light to obliterate some of these chemicals, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters.
“We are optimizing it by trying to make this technology versatile for a wide range of PFAS-contaminated source waters,” said study author Haizhou Liu, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UCR, in a statement. “The technology has shown very promising results in the destruction of PFAS in both drinking water and different types of industrial wastewater.”
Scientists Destroyed 95% of Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' in Just 45 Minutes, Study Reports
Using hydrogen and UV light, scientists reported destroying 95% of two kinds of toxic PFAS chemicals in tap water in under an hour.
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