Scientists Discover New Method to Destroy 'Forever Chemicals' Using Common Compounds

For decades, scientists have struggled with a stubborn problem: how to destroy chemicals that refuse to break down. PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly called "forever chemicals"—were invented in the 1930s and began appearing in consumer products in the 1940s and 50s. They made cookware nonstick, clothing water-resistant, food packaging grease-proof. The trouble is that PFAS don't degrade naturally. They linger in air, water, and soil indefinitely, accumulating in human bodies and showing up in drinking water across the country.

The health consequences have become impossible to ignore. Exposure to PFAS is associated with low birth weight, elevated cholesterol, thyroid disease, and increased cancer risk. PFOS, a type of PFAS once widely used in stain-resistant fabrics and food packaging, has been linked to liver cancer. Its chemical cousin PFOA carries an elevated risk of kidney cancer. The chemicals are so persistent that even after PFOA and PFOS were largely phased out of U.S. manufacturing in the mid-2000s, they remain in the environment. They've been replaced by newer variants like GenX, but the old ones never left. According to the Environmental Working Group, approximately 2,000 American communities now have PFAS levels in their drinking water that exceed the EPA's newly established safety limits, set in June at 0.004 parts per trillion for PFOA and 0.02 parts per trillion for PFOS.

Until recently, the only operational method for destroying PFAS required subjecting the chemicals to extreme heat—temperatures sometimes exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit—in industrial incinerators. The process worked, technically, but it was energy-intensive and carried its own environmental cost. Evidence suggested that incinerators were actually dispersing PFAS into surrounding communities rather than eliminating the threat. When PFAS-laden firefighting foams or contaminated materials were incinerated, the chemicals simply circulated back into the air people breathed.

In August 2022, researchers at Northwestern University published a study describing a fundamentally different approach. William Dichtel, a chemistry professor, and his team discovered that PFAS molecules could be broken down using two relatively benign compounds: sodium hydroxide, commonly known as lye and used in soap manufacturing, and dimethyl sulfoxide, a chemical already approved by the FDA as a medication for bladder pain. The Northwestern team added PFAS molecules to a solution containing these two substances and heated the mixture to just 248 degrees Fahrenheit—a fraction of the temperature required by traditional incineration. The result was striking: the PFAS molecules degraded into fluoride ions and other harmless byproducts.

The reason PFAS are so difficult to destroy lies in their molecular structure. The carbon-fluorine bonds holding these chemicals together are extraordinarily strong. Brittany Trang, a co-author of the study, described the process of breaking them apart as equivalent to smashing a Lego block into individual pieces. What the Northwestern method does is target one specific portion of the PFAS molecule, triggering a cascade of reactions that ultimately dismantles the entire compound. The approach is safer than incineration, requires far less energy, and eliminates the risk of re-releasing PFAS into the environment during disposal.

Yet significant obstacles remain. The Northwestern method successfully degraded PFOA and GenX chemicals, but PFOS—one of the most common and most dangerous variants—resisted the treatment. Dichtel's team is now investigating alternative approaches for that particular chemical. More broadly, the researchers tested their method on PFAS at higher concentrations than those found in most contaminated drinking water. Whether the process works effectively at the extremely low concentrations present in real-world water supplies remains unproven. Christopher Sales, an environmental engineering professor at Drexel University not involved in the research, noted that many proposed PFAS destruction methods have failed to demonstrate effectiveness at such low levels.

Scaling the technology for widespread use presents another challenge. If the Northwestern method were deployed in water treatment systems, the process would likely require extracting PFAS at a treatment facility, then transporting the contaminated material to a separate location where it could be exposed to the lye and dimethyl sulfoxide mixture. Sales posed the central question: "The big question is whether or not this process could be scaled up." He and other researchers are exploring alternative approaches, including methods that might work at room temperature rather than requiring heating at all. The consensus among experts is that no single solution will address the PFAS problem comprehensively. Multiple technologies, deployed in different contexts and at different scales, will likely be necessary. For the 2,000 communities currently dealing with PFAS-contaminated drinking water, a practical, deployable solution remains years away.