PFAS Cleanup Is Advancing—but Scientists Still Face More Than 12,000 “Forever Chemicals”
PFAS are also a moving target. New compounds continue to be created and used. More than 12,000 PFAS chemicals exist, yet much of the research into purification focuses on only a handful of them.
Progress in PFAS Removal and Destruction
Although cleaning up PFAS-contaminated soil is still in its early stages, removing these chemicals from water systems can help prevent further accumulation. Scientists are pursuing two main strategies: trapping PFAS or destroying them.
Reverse osmosis, which passes water through an extremely fine membrane, can help remove PFAS in point-of-use applications such as kitchen sink water filters.
Other techniques may be better suited to large-scale PFAS removal in pipelines and water treatment plants. One approach, called foam separation, produces foam that traps PFAS. Researchers are also investigating methods that capture the chemicals in ultrathin layers of electrically charged metals.
However, trapping PFAS does not eliminate the problem entirely. PFAS-filled brine remains after treatment, and it can persist in the environment unless it is properly destroyed. Destroying the concentrated waste can be expensive and energy-intensive.
Jack Huang, a professor of crop and soil science at the University of Georgia, is working on PFAS destruction. He is testing a method called electrochemical degradation, which uses electrodes to break the chemical bonds holding PFAS together. The method has been tested to destroy more than 90% of the PFAS mass and has been licensed by engineering consulting company AECOM.
Eliminating PFAS is also a policy challenge. Alternatives to PFAS exist, but broader adoption may require regulatory action and other incentives. There has been progress before: the EPA’s 2010–2015 PFOA Stewardship Program helped reduce releases of the water-repellent chemical perfluorooctanoic acid by 95%.
More recently, Minnesota, Maine, and New Mexico passed bans restricting PFAS in products such as cookware and dental floss.
PFAS Progress Meter: 6/10
Scientists are making progress toward removing and destroying PFAS, but that progress could be wasted if society does not stop new PFAS from entering the environment.
Source: www.technologyreview.com