PFAS chemicals were once hailed as a miracle solution. They made our lives easier by making pots easier to clean, jackets waterproof, and carpets stain-resistant. But as tests started detecting PFAS in people’s blood, it became clear that these chemicals were not as harmless as we thought. Today, PFAS are everywhere, from soil and dust to drinking water, and studies suggest they’re in 98% of Americans’ bodies. They’ve been linked to health problems like thyroid disease, liver damage, and cancer. With over 9,000 types of PFAS, they’re often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in nature.
Industrial giant 3M, which has made PFAS for many uses for decades, recently announced a $10.3 billion settlement with public water suppliers to help pay for testing and treatment. But the question remains: how do we capture and destroy a forever chemical?
Biochemist A. Daniel Jones and soil scientist Hui Li from Michigan State University are working on promising techniques to tackle PFAS contamination. Here’s what they had to say:
How do PFAS get into our bodies?
There are two main ways PFAS enter our bodies: through drinking water and food consumption. They can also get into soil through landfills and biosolids, which are sludge from wastewater treatment. Livestock can consume PFAS through the crops they eat and water they drink, which can then end up in our food.
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Scientists at Michigan State University are working on materials that can prevent plants from taking up PFAS, but this leaves the chemicals in the soil. The problem is that PFAS are in so many consumer products, from makeup to ski wax, and there’s no natural process that can break them down.
How are we currently removing PFAS contamination?
Filtering is one method of removing PFAS from water, but it’s expensive for large-scale projects. Near a former military base in California, a huge activated carbon tank filters contaminated groundwater and pumps it underground. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulations for maximum levels of six PFAS chemicals in public drinking water systems. Incineration is the most common method of destroying PFAS, but it’s energy-intensive and not easy to scale up.
What are the most promising methods for breaking down PFAS?
Supercritical water oxidation and plasma reactors are experimental techniques that show promise, but they haven’t been scaled up to treat large amounts of PFAS. The big challenge is making sure we don’t create other harmful chemicals in the process.
What does the future hold?
We need to understand where our exposure to PFAS is coming from. If it’s mostly from drinking water, there are more potential methods for removing it. Electro-chemical methods could eventually be used at the household level, but we need to understand the potential risks. We also need to think about the full life cycle of products and whether we really need chemicals to last forever.
A. Daniel Jones is a professor of Biochemistry, Michigan State University and Hui Li is a professor of Environmental and Soil Chemistry, Michigan State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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As the world increasingly becomes aware of the dangers presented by forever chemicals, some people may feel helpless in light of the situation. However, experts are confident that eliminating these chemicals is possible and that some solutions are already being implemented.
Forever chemicals include man-made chemicals such as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which accumulate in the environment, are harmful to human health, and defy degradation. They are widely used in everyday items such as food packaging, cosmetics, carpets, clothing, and cookware.
According to the experts at The Environmental Working Group, countries that have taken action against these chemicals have already seen improvement in the environment. For example, Sweden and the Netherlands have both banned PFAS from food packaging, reducing their presence in households and the environment. Additionally, countries such as Germany and Italy have taken measures to reduce emissions from other sources, such as the production of textiles, and the US has implemented restrictions on certain types of PFAS used in firefighting foam.
These are only a few of the measures being taken to reduce exposure to PFAS and other forever chemicals. Additional steps include increasing research into non-toxic alternatives, instituting bans and restrictions on the use of PFAS, implementing evaluation processes for new chemicals, and providing incentives for companies to create greener products.
These solutions are only the beginning of a long-term plan for eliminating forever chemicals. Governments, industry, and consumers are all playing roles in the development and implementation of solutions to decrease the adverse effects from repeating and persistent chemicals. With the right initiatives and regulations, it is possible to reduce and even eliminate these harmful substances.
