Chemists at Northwestern University in Illinois have claimed a breakthrough with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Bacteria cannot consume PFAS, fire cannot incinerate them and water can’t dilute them, academics at Northwestern have said. But using low temperatures and what they have described as inexpensive, common reagents, the research team there has succeeded in developing a process that causes two major classes of PFAS compounds to fall apart, leaving behind only benign products.

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