Simple method destroys dangerous ‘forever chemicals,’ making water safe

Key takeaways:World ’s water tainted.Synthetic PFAS, which have been linked to cancer and other diseases, have contaminated nearly every drop of water on the planet.Unbreakable bond.These chemicals contain a carbon-fluorine bond that is almost impossible to break, making it extremely difficult to eradicate them from water supplies.Off with their heads!Researchers devised a “guillotine” solution that uses moderate heat and inexpensive reagents to remove the “heads” of PFAS, initiating their destruction.If you ’re despairing at recent reports that Earth’s water sources have been thoroughly infested with hazardous human-made chemicals called PFAS that can last for thousands of years, making even rainwater unsafe to drink, there’s a spot of good news.Chemists at UCLA and Northwestern University have developed a simple way to break down almost a dozen types of these nearly indestructible “forever chemicals” at relatively low temperatures with no harmful byproducts. In a paperpublishedtoday in the journal Science, the researchers show that in water heated to just 176 to 248 degrees Fahrenheit, common, inexpensive solvents and reagents severed molecular bonds in PFAS that are among the strongest known and initiated a chemical reaction that “gradually nibbled away at the molecule” until it was gone, said UCLA distinguished research professor and co-corresponding author Kendall Houk.The simple technology, the comparatively low temperatures and the lack of harm...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news