Advanced Technique Developed to Trace “Forever Chemicals” in Environment

Organofluorine compounds, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” have been a growing concern due to their presence in drinking water, oceans, and human blood, posing risks to both the environment and human health. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have made significant progress in developing a new technique to fingerprint these chemicals, enabling authorities to trace them back to their source when they contaminate aquifers, waterways, or soil.

The newly developed technique involves passing samples through a strong magnetic field, followed by reading the emitted radio waves from their atoms. This process helps reveal the composition of carbon isotopes in the molecule, providing a unique fingerprint for each chemical. This breakthrough is crucial in enabling scientists to track the spread of forever chemicals in the environment, offering insights into their movement and distribution.

Forever chemicals are characterized by their strong molecular bonds, which make them resistant to breaking down in the environment. While these properties are beneficial in various applications, they also contribute to the persistence of these chemicals in soil and organic matter, leading to environmental pollution. The complex molecular structure of forever chemicals poses challenges for conventional chemical fingerprinting methods, which rely on breaking molecules apart in a mass spectrometer.

To overcome the limitations of traditional fingerprinting techniques, the researchers utilized nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a technology that can analyze a molecule’s structure and isotopes without disassembling it. By measuring the mix of carbon isotopes bonding to fluorine atoms in each molecule, the researchers were able to create a unique identifier, akin to a barcode, for tracking the origin of the chemical.

The newly developed technique has broad applications beyond tracking forever chemicals. It can be utilized in various fields, such as detecting counterfeit drugs, astrobiology research, and even exploring early Earth metabolism. By harnessing tools from different scientific disciplines and innovatively combining them, the researchers have opened up new possibilities for understanding organic chemistry and its implications for environmental and biological studies.

The researchers are currently conducting a pilot study to test the effectiveness of the technique on pollutants found in the city of Austin’s water bodies. If successful, this approach could be valuable for state and federal agencies tasked with monitoring and tracking the spread of water-borne forever chemicals. The potential for this advanced technique extends far beyond current environmental concerns, offering a new frontier of isotope information that could revolutionize various scientific disciplines.