How Scientists Are Working to Destroy “Forever Chemicals” Safely

Researchers are developing innovative methods — from plasma reactors to sound waves — to break down PFAS “forever chemicals” without harming the environment.

• By Ellie Gabel
• October 31, 2025

If chemicals are unable to naturally degrade in a timely manner, they can have harmful effects on the environment and the organisms living in it. Finding a safe way to destroy these forever chemicals is crucial for stopping the negative consequences of their existence.

What Is a Forever Chemical?

A forever chemical is a toxic substance that is difficult to destroy. These can be found in lots of products, including food packaging, waterproof materials like raincoats and non-stick pans. Often, forever chemicals can stay intact for thousands of years.

Any substance that does not dissolve naturally is potentially harmful. Specifically, forever chemicals have been known to cause health issues involving reproductive organs and cancer in extreme cases. They also hurt the environment by contaminating water, soil, and wildlife.

Methods for Destroying Forever Chemicals

Forever chemicals might feel like a good option because they do not biodegrade and can therefore make raincoats waterproof and pans non-stick. However, a material like PTFE that can only melt at 327° Celsius can be harmful because of its durability. Without natural degradation, it can cause health problems and hurt the environment. That is why scientists, and other professionals must work on methods to destroy these chemicals.

Harmful Methods

It is important to note here that there are some potentially harmful ways to destroy forever chemicals. For instance, metal balls in a moving container can grind them, but that could require a corrosive container that defeats the purpose, since it also negatively affects the environment.

Another harmful method is incineration. However, there is a debate about whether doing this destroys the chemicals or just helps release them into the atmosphere. These harmful practices are why it is important to investigate sustainable options for permanently destroying pollutants while not adding them.

Ball Milling

Ball milling is like the harmful method mentioned above, except it mixes chemicals with additives and metal balls at a high speed. This breaks down the chemical bonds and turns them into less harmful ones. Boron nitride is an effective additive because it is non-corrosive and can still react.

Electrons

When forever chemicals are contained within water, they can be put into a reactor that uses argon gas to break through their bonds. Then, electricity loosens the electrons in the water and turns the gas into a conducting plasma. Doing so breaks down the concentration of forever chemicals into such a low amount that it cannot be detected if there are any traces of them left.

Pressure

Hydrothermal alkaline treatment can also be used to break down forever chemicals. With this technique, scientists add sodium hydroxide to them. They can then heat the concoction to 350° C under high pressure. This process destabilizes the molecules of forever chemicals by collecting enough fluoride from them that they break down.

Sonolysis

Sound is not often considered a way to break down chemicals, but it has proven effective. Someone will send sound energy into a solution with forever chemicals inside it. Then, the created bubbles will explode and raise the temperature of the solution enough that the molecular bonds in forever chemicals will break.

Fungus

Plants can be used to create organic filter material to hold forever chemicals. A fungus can then be introduced to the area to eat both the pollutant and the filter material. It might leave behind some chains, but its presence is still greatly reduced.

Light

There are two known light methods for destroying forever chemicals. One uses violet light to zap an organic catalyst that then breaks down large and small compounds of forever chemicals. The other uses blue light to insert electrons from an additive solution into forever chemical compounds. The light takes away fluorine atoms and leaves hydrogen ones behind, which creates hydrocarbon — a much easier substance to deal with.

The Issue of Putting These into Practice

The issue with most of these methods is that there is not adequate research to support implementing them in widespread use. Without a complete study and further investigation into their processes and effects, they will still not be utilized effectively. While these ideas are being studied, more regulations need to be in place for forever chemical production to keep them from continuing to harm both humans and the environment.

A Future Without Forever Chemicals

Forever chemicals are harmful, causing environmental and health impacts that could be avoided with a proper method for destroying them and lessening production altogether. With regulations and more research, chemicals will hopefully become nonexistent in the future.