Organofluorine compounds — sometimes called ‘forever chemicals’ — are increasingly turning up in our drinking water, oceans and even human blood, posing a potential threat to the environment and human health.
Organofluorine compounds — sometimes called ‘forever chemicals’ — are increasingly turning up in our drinking water, oceans and even human blood, posing a potential threat to the environment and human health.
Now, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a way to fingerprint them, which could help authorities trace them to their source when they end up in aquifers, waterways or soil.
The technique involves passing samples through a strong magnetic field then reading the burst of radio waves their atoms emit. This reveals the composition of carbon isotopes in the molecule and gives the chemical its fingerprint, a feat that had not previously been achieved with forever chemicals.
The work is important because it allows scientists to track the spread of forever chemicals in the environment, said Cornelia Rasmussen, a research assistant professor at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics at the Jackson School of Geosciences.
Read more at University of Texas at Austin
Image: Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin are developing ways to track forever chemical pollutants in waterways. (Credit: Jackson School of Geosciences/University of Texas Institute for Geophysics)
