Scientists discover microbes that eat 'forever chemicals'

Scientists have uncovered microbes that are able to destroy so-called “'forever chemical” pollutants.

With everything from sewage in our waterways to plastic found at the bottom of the third-deepest ocean trench, pollution is affecting all corners of the Earth.

Known as “forever chemicals”, PFAS (Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) are a group of human-made substances that are a particular concern because they do not break down in the environment.

PFAS have been linked to health issues and have been found in food and drink, sparking concern for experts and governments. KSI and Logan Paul's drinks company Prime Hydration has even faced a lawsuit over alleged 'forever chemicals”.

But, experts have uncovered bacteria that is able to break down the strong bonds that make forever chemicals so resilient, laying out their findings in a new study.

The microbes in the study were able to break down the carbon-fluorine bonds within some unsaturated PFAs, in a process known as defluorination. It occurs when enzymes split the chemical bonds, releasing the fluoride atoms.

Typically, the atoms would kill the bacteria, but four species were found to have specialised pumps that expel the fluoride into the environment and out of their cells. Researchers, including the senior author Yujie Men, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California Riverside, theorised the existence of these pumps may be part of a defence mechanism.

They found four species of Acetobacterium that can degrade the bonds in some PFAS, and it is hoped that their discovery could help treat wastewater for PFAs.

While other treatments such as heat and filtration have been utilised in the past, the study’s authors stressed how the approach could be more cost-effective and treat groundwater that is currently inaccessible to other treatments.

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