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‘Forever chemicals’ were successfully destroyed

US scientists have found a way of destroying toxic ‘forever chemicals’, named so because of their tendency to linger. 

The chemicals, also known as PFAS compounds, are used in food packaging, textiles and cosmetics. Because they never fully break down, they accumulate in the environment and humans. Some studies have linked them to cancer.  

Now, chemists at Northwestern University, Illinois, appear to have achieved the impossible. Using inexpensive reagents (substances that cause a chemical reaction), they have developed a process that appears to destroy 10 PFAS compounds – leaving behind only benign end products.

“It’s exciting because of how simple our solution is,” said the university’s William Dichtel, who led the study. There’s still much work to be done, however. Some 12,000 PFAS compounds have been identified in the US alone.

Image: Sophia Marston