New Technology Uses Sunlight to Help Reduce Harmful Forever Chemicals
As concerns about forever chemicals continue to rise, experts are racing to find solutions to remove them from the environment. The man-made compounds, abundant in industrial manufacturing, firefighting foams, and many consumer products, can be found virtually everywhere — from drinking water and lakes to the dust in our homes.
Unfortunately, as they accumulate in our bodies, forever chemicals may be linked to serious health problems. At this point, mitigating exposure mostly lies with consumers, who can use water filters, ditch non-stick cookware, and avoid certain food packaging.
Now, an international research team led by the University of Bath in the U.K. has developed a method to break down PFAS — the chemical term for forever chemicals — with the help of sunlight. Not only were they successful in transforming PFAS into less harmful compounds, but this technology could also be used to detect forever chemicals in our surroundings, as described in their study published in RSC Advances.
“We hope that our technology could, in the future, be used in a simple portable sensor that can be used outside the lab, for example, to detect where there are higher levels of PFAS in the environment,” said project lead Frank Marken from the University of Bath’s Department of Chemistry and Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change in a press release.
Read more: Lasers Could Help Detect Nano- and Microplastics in Bodily Fluids
Forever Chemicals May Harm Our Health and the Environment
Since the introduction of forever chemicals, or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in the 1940s, they have become widespread in the environment and in our households. Because of their incredibly stable chemical properties, they degrade very slowly, if at all, and can therefore easily accumulate in our bodies, water systems, and even food chains.
“PFAS are used in many different products, from waterproof clothing to lipstick, but they accumulate in the body and in the environment over time, with toxic effects,” said the study’s first author, Fernanda Martins from the University of São Paulo, in a press release.
We still don’t fully understand the long-term effects PFAS have on our health and the environment, but according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, current evidence shows a connection between forever chemicals and increased risks of certain cancers, impacts on fertility, and immune system impairment.
PFAS Break Down Powered by Sunlight
Hoping to expand the currently complicated repertoire of remediation approaches for PFAS, the research team (consisting of scientists from the U.K., Brazil, Scotland, and Wales) developed a simple carbon-based catalyst combined with a rigid microporous polymer that is activated by sunlight.
They explain how the polymer guides PFAS to bind to the catalyst, which uses sunlight to break them down in a process called photodegradation. The end products are carbon dioxide and fluoride, both naturally occurring in our environment.
“Our project has combined an easy-to-make carbon-based catalyst with a polymer called PIM-1 to make PFAS breakdown more efficient, especially at neutral pH, which would be naturally found in the environment,” added Martins.
Improving the Detection of Forever Chemicals in Our Environment
The prototype not only successfully broke down PFAS but could also be expanded to track them in the environment. The researchers described how the technology could become a sensor that measures the amount of fluoride released from samples.
“Currently, it’s very difficult to detect PFAS, requiring expensive equipment in a specialist lab,” explained Marken. As the method is still in the early stages of development, the researchers are optimistic that the technology could grow into a portable sensor for use outside the lab. Right now, they are hoping to collaborate with industry to improve technology for large-scale production.
Read more: Your Microbiome May Absorb PFAS, Protecting You From The Harms of ‘Forever Chemicals’
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