Can microbes save us from PFAS?

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are high-profile environmental contaminants whose strong carbon-fluorine bonds make them difficult to degrade. Scientists have reason to believe that microbes could be enlisted to do the job. These researchers have identified microbes that defluorinate select PFAS to different extents, and they are working to identify the mechanisms behind PFAS breakdown. Some are aiming to boost the microbes’ activity to achieve complete defluorination, while others are developing practical ways to combine microbes with chemical remediation of contaminated water and soil. Because the odds are stacked against microbes’ being able to conquer PFAS on their own, researchers also say that regulatory agencies should restrict PFAS use without delay. For 3 decades starting in the 1940s, General Electric dumped solvents from its manufacturing facilities into New York’s Hudson River, contaminating it with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Scientists worried about how best to clean up the pollutants . “At that