Yale researchers find a new way to make PFAS easier to remove and destroy

forever checmicals(Representative image) Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are often called “forever chemicals” because their ultra-strong carbon–fluorine bonds make them stubbornly resistant to breakdown in the environment. They’re prized in industry for repelling water, oil and heat, but that same durability means they persist in soil, water and living tissue long after use. Now, a Yale Engineering doctoral student has developed a novel approach that doesn’t just capture PFAS, it chemically re-engineers them. By reacting certain PFAS molecules with octanol, the method roughly doubles their size, causing them to drop out of water and become far easier to destroy, according tozz Yale’s official announcement of the research from Professor John Fortner’s lab.Why PFAS are so hard to removePFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals used in everything from nonstick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics to semiconductor manufacturing and firefighting foams. Their defining feature is a chain of carbon atoms heavily bonded to fluorine. The carbon–fluorine bond is one of the strongest in organic chemistry, which makes PFAS incredibly stable and useful, but also extremely difficu...