University of British Columbia team’s water purification
Revolutionary filter technology may be able to remove forever chemicals from your tap water. Pilot test of the water purification system developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia have begun in the real world.
Researchers in Canada claimed to have created a technique to remove harmful forever chemicals from water and maybe permanently erase the persistent substances.
These dangerous substances, often known as forever chemicals because they may linger in the environment for years, have long concerned environmentalists and authorities.
Although their detrimental effects on human health are widely known, eradicating them has been difficult due to their pervasive usage and difficulties in being broken down.
There is increasing pressure to do so. The Environmental Protection Agency EPA . proposed the first drinking-water rules in the country in March 2023, mandating water utilities to lower PFAS levels.
The research’s principle investigator, Madjid Mohseni, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of British Columbia, predicted that the findings may have a significant impact.
In order to combat PFAS contamination of our water systems, we hope to be able to add this to our arsenal of available resources. Technologies to remove PFAS from water already exist, but according to Mohseni and other specialists, these methods have drawbacks.
For instance, activated carbon can filter so called long-chain PFAS but is less efficient at trapping the shorter-chain versions of the chemicals. Shorter-chain PFAS are more common because many manufacturers utilise them as an alternative to long-chain chemicals, even though some of them can be harmful at low concentrations.
According to Erik Olson, a senior strategic director at the Natural Resources Defence Council, current practises frequently of PFAS that are frequently disposed of in landfills or burned.
The dangerous substances may leak back into the environment from landfills. It’s not ideal to burn them either. Olson said that only extremely high temperature incineration can even begin to eliminate PFAS.
PFAS are just simply sent up the chimney during normal incineration.
New washable filter for PFAS
According to Mohseni, the material his team created, which resembles small porous plastic beads, can remove both long and shorter chain pollutants at rates that are on par with or higher than those required by the industry.
According to him, the PFAS it traps might be scraped away, making the beads potentially recyclable or reusable. Additionally, the scientists developed methods to convert any PFAS residue into innocuous molecules.
In the future, he noted, the beads may be included into items that filter water for usage in residences, businesses, and municipal settings. Users would need to submit old filters to centralised sites for regeneration or recycling in order for the PFAS to be completely broken down for in home uses.
This is similar to how certain spent coffee pods are returned to manufacturers for recycling. The research conducted by his team has been reported in several peer-reviewed publications.
The technique appears promising, but according to specialists who were not engaged in the research, it has yet to be scaled up in real world environments.
In British Columbia, the UBC research team has started pilot studies, although none of the locations are now sources of drinking water. We’re still a long way from having a conclusive answer.
The fact that we still don’t quite know how to completely remove PFAS on a commercial scale is our biggest concern.
The PFAS remedy is gold standard
Cora Young, an associate professor of chemistry at York University in Toronto who researches the chemicals, removing the substances from water and breaking them down is only a portion of the answer to the PFAS issue.
Destroying PFAS that currently exist is a good thing, but many more strategies must be taken, to really lessen its negative effects on the ecosystem according to Young.
Regulations and other measures to hold polluters accountable are included. The best course of action is to stop manufacturing this product. Olson said that since we are not poisoning the entire ecosystem with it.
Source: Labworldwide
