Researchers have made progress in eliminating a group of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds.
Although PFAS are frequently found in nonstick cookware, sweat-resistant cosmetics, and waterproof clothing, they have also been connected to significant health problems like cancer, thyroid disease, and obesity.
Worse and worse, PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because of how slowly they disintegrate in the environment. They can linger in the background for a long time, including in the soil and precipitation.
However, in a recent study, a team of chemists under the direction of Brittany Trang discovered a simple, affordable technique to degrade a family of PFAS known as perfluoro carboxylic acids or PFCAs. The researchers could convert the PFCAs into harmless compounds by combining sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda) with the typical solvent dimethyl sulfoxide.
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Before this finding, the process of destroying PFAS typically needed high-temperature burning, which could still release harmful compounds into the environment.
Trang and her colleagues hope their research may uncover other strategies for properly destroying PFAS. These remedies are desperately needed because PFAS have been found in human blood, with one recent study estimating that 98 percent of Americans had PFAS in their bloodstream.
