Emerging Contaminants
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-dioxane
Pioneering new treatments for emerging contaminants like PFAS and 1,4-dioxane
Unfortunately, new environmental contaminants continue to emerge. Chemicals like per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4-dioxane recently joined the list of U.S. EPA regulated substances. In early April, 2024 for example, the EPA set limits on the concentrations of several PFAS compounds in drinking water. The regulatory levels are extremely low and will be challenging for many municipalities to attain.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) a common PFAS in the environment
Biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane
PFAS compounds have been referred to as ‘forever chemicals’. We don’t agree. While the carbon - fluorine bonds that characterize these chemicals degrade slowly, we have been able to modify long chain PFAS that are common in the environment. Size is an important factor in how long these chemicals remain in the human body and the conversion to smaller chains significantly reduces toxicity.
We are working with a major chemical company to refine and expand these biological solutions for the PFAS problem.
Figure - Net changes in fluoride ([F-]) and PFOA-F after treatment for 6 days by 6 different bacteria strains. All changes are in terms of ug/L F.
ThermO+™ technology also is useful as part of a treatment train when used with sorbents to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water. Our technology rapidly removes major PFAS components like PFOS and PFOA from commercial sorbents, regenerating the sorbent in a field-safe method that decontaminates a secondary waste stream.
Our tests also show degradation of 1,4-dioxane, a water miscible compound used as a solvent stabilizer and present in some personal care products.
