PFAS Update: Removing Forever Chemicals
A recent study lead by Le Monde and Watershed Investigations identified a wide spread of PFAS hot spots. Over 2,100 locations are considered contaminated to hazardous levels. The clean up of these ubiquitous chemicals will not be cheap but scientists are starting to believe that it might be possible. The price point is estimated somewhere around 19 trillion dollars. Who exactly would foot this bill is also a hazy question but the fact that it needs to happen is clear. PFOA has been identified as a carcinogen and several other PFAS chemicals are thought to be endocrine disruptors. The overall toxicology of PFAS chemicals as a broad category remains largely unknown.
Additionally, just removing PFAS from say, public water, would not be enough as it would still leave you with the issue of PFAS disposal. There needs to be a way to break PFAS down so that it is not longer poisoning the environment in which it exists. Recently, several research teams have found success in “zapping” or hitting PFAS trapped in a reusable medium with UV light. In the very simplest terms, the UV light breaks down the chemical bonds that make up many PFAS chemicals and breaks them down into their component parts. Fluoride is a by-product of this process but many water treatment cycles still use fluoride as an intentional treatment to this day so essential the PFAS specific risks would be eliminated.
There is also an alternative plan to introduce certain microbes and encourage them to develop the ability to break down PFAS chemicals. Typically, fluorinated structures are more resistant to this type of degradation but it is still a promising avenue of study. This would allow for an even more environmentally friendly and energy efficient method for combating PFAS contamination.
While these are all great and encouraging developments in the fight against PFAS contamination, they are not excuses to stop working to prevent the use and production of PFAS chemicals and PFAS containing products. While we fight to reverse the impact of these chemicals on our environment, millions of people are suffering the effects of PFAS on their health. As Anna Lennquist, senior toxicologist at ChemSec stated, "Of course, we have to do something about these super-contaminated places to be able to drink the water, but the overall solution is to stop the production and use [of PFAS] as far as possible."
To read more about this topic, check out this BBC article here.