Read the full article by XiaoZhi Lim (C&EN)
“More than 1 million L of aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) are stored across Ireland. At power plants, chemical refineries, airports, and pharmaceutical facilities, AFFFs lie in wait inside the pipes of fire-suppression systems.
But these foams contain some ‘forever chemicals’—also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—that are well-known toxins. Both the foams and their PFAS components may soon be banned in Europe. If the curtain falls on AFFFs, there are few good ways to get rid of them.
‘There was no national mechanism to deal with this stored AFFF,’ says Cormac Murphy, a microbiologist at University College Dublin. PFAS waste is currently destroyed by energy-intensive incineration at temperatures above 1,100 °C. In some places, such as Ireland, these high-temperature incinerators don’t exist, so any unwanted AFFFs will need a one-way ticket to mainland Europe, where they’ll meet their fiery end.
But Murphy hopes that a different fate could await them. In his laboratory, he’s growing a fungus, and last year, his team started feeding it with a chemically treated version of an AFFF.”…