Scientists discover how to destroy 'chemicals forever'

Enlarge / How long do we really need chemicals to last? Surah Nualpradid | EyeEm via Getty

PFAS chemicals seemed like a good idea at first. As Teflon, they made pots easier to clean from the 1940s. They made waterproof jackets and stain-resistant carpets. Food wraps, fire-fighting foam, and even makeup looked better with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Then the tests started detecting PFAS in people's blood.

Today, PFAS are ubiquitous in soil, dust, and drinking water around the world. Studies suggest they are found in 98% of Americans' bodies, where they have been linked to health problems including thyroid disease, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancer. Today there are more than 9,000 types of PFAS. They are often called "eternal chemicals" because the same properties that make them so useful also ensure that they do not break down in nature.

Scientists are working on methods to capture these synthetic chemicals and destroy them, but it's not easy.

The latest breakthrough, published August 18, 2022 in the journal Science, shows how a class of PFAS can be broken down into mostly harmless components using sodium hydroxide, or lye, an inexpensive compound used in the soap. It is not an immediate solution to this vast problem, but it offers new perspectives.

Biochemist A. Daniel Jones and soil scientist Hui Li work on PFAS solutions at Michigan State University and explained promising PFAS destruction techniques being tested today.

How do PFAS pass from everyday products into water, soil, and possibly humans?

There are two main routes of exposure to PFAS entering humans: drinking water and food consumption.

PFASs can enter the soil through the land application of biosolids, i.e. sludge from wastewater treatment, and they can escape from landfills. If contaminated biosolids are applied to agricultural fields as fertilizer, PFAS can enter water and crops and vegetables.

For example, livestock can consume PFAS through the crops they eat and the water they drink. Cases have been reported in Michigan, Maine and New Mexico of high levels of PFAS in beef cattle and dairy cows. The magnitude of the potential risk to humans is still largely unknown.

Enlarge / Cows have been found with high levels of PFAS on a Maine farm. ...