Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, known commonly as PFAS, could take over 40 years to flush out of contaminated groundwater in North Carolina's Cumberland and Bladen counties, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. The study used a novel combination of data on PFAS, groundwater age-dating tracers, and groundwater flux to forecast PFAS concentrations in groundwater discharging to tributaries of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
@phil_stevens @I_am_10_squirrels @ProdigalFrog
The only other way to destroy this class of chemicals is burning at over 1000C. Even then, you end up with a bunch of similarly problematic shorter chain fluorinated hydrocarbons.
@robloblaw @I_am_10_squirrels @ProdigalFrog Exactly why they are such a fiendish problem and also why catalytic processes are the way to go.