Forever Chemicals

Source: indianexpress

Introduction

• A cheap & affordable way to degrade hardy environmental pollutants known as Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances or PFAs was found.
• They are called forever chemicals because of their ability to stick around in the atmosphere, in rainwater, and soil for decades.
• As per US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention(CDC), PFAS are manmade chemicals used to make non-stick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant fabrics, cosmetics, firefighting foams and other products that resist grease, water and oil.
• They are also found in dental floss thread and food wrappers used in restaurants.
• PFAS can contaminate soil, water and air during their production and use.
• As many PFAS do not break down, they remain in the environment for long periods.
• Factories that use them in manufacturing, release them in the air, while others dump them into rivers & groundwater.
• Some of the PFAS buildup inside humans and animals, if they are repeatedly exposed to these chemicals.
• Recently it was found that PFAS are found in falling even in remote places like Tibet, and Antarctica.

Harms

The United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) lists a variety of health risks that are attributed to PFAS exposure –

• Decreased fertility
• Developmental effects in children
• Interference with body hormones
• Increased cholesterol levels
• Increased risk of particular cancers.
• Long-term, low-level exposure to certain PFAS can make it difficult in building antibodies, after being vaccinated against various diseases.

Getting Rid of PFAS

• Presently there’s no known method to extract & remove PFAS from the atmosphere but there are many effective, albeit expensive methods to remove them from rainwater that was collected through rainwater harvesting.
• One way to do this would be to use a filtration system with activated carbon.
• The activated carbon will need to be removed & replaced regularly.
• The old contaminated material must be destroyed.
• Another way is to burn concentrated PFAS, but that comes with the risk of releasing incinerated PFAS into the air.

New Invention

• In the new method of destroying PFAS, a common ingredient in soap is used which when mixed with water & an organic solvent, readily degrades PFAS.
• A PFA compound was first placed in a solvent called DMSO(dimethyl sulfoxide), then it was mixed with Sodium Hydroxide water.
• When, the mixture was heated up to boiling temperature, the PFA compound began to degrade.
• This method may not work for all PFAS but only for certain PFAS subsets.

Epilogue