News Center Maine features UMaine researchers studying how to destroy PFAS chemicals

News Center Maine featured the research of Onur Apul, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at UMaine. Over the next several years Apul and his team will be researching how to eradicate PFAS chemicals — compounds considered virtually indestructible — with a quarter-of-a-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation. The research will focus on water filtration systems used by homeowners and municipalities to filter out toxic chemicals. “If we recover spent water filter materials, can we also destroy PFAS? We think at lower temperatures than expected we can destroy PFAS again giving us an upper hand at a lower energy footprint,” Apul said.