Environmental Issue – April 2022: PFAS water filter developed by NIEHS funding

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A brand new filter cartridge that’s appropriate with Brita pitchers can take away per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from consuming water. The Purefast cartridges from CycloPure, Inc., are based mostly on DEXSORB+(https://www.niehs.nih.gov/analysis/supported/facilities/srp/science_digest/2019/6/know-how/index.cfm) know-how, which was developed with assist from an NIEHS Superfund Analysis Program (SRP) small enterprise innovation analysis grant(https://instruments.niehs.nih.gov/srp/applications/Program_detail.cfm?Project_ID=R44ES029401).

“These $45 filters can present as much as 65 gallons of PFAS-free water, changing 700 single-use water bottles,” mentioned CycloPure chief government officer Frank Cassou. The cartridges might be obtainable in early April 2022.

“We hope this might be an reasonably priced choice for folks involved about PFAS publicity based mostly on the place they dwell or work,” he famous.

Woman fills pitcher for filtering water “Brita pitchers are accessible to an enormous demographic and don’t require an knowledgeable, like a plumber, for set up,” famous Cassou. “This permits us to simply present protected and reasonably priced consuming water.” (Photograph courtesy of CycloPure)

“The aim of the SRP small enterprise grant program is to create instruments that can enhance folks’s well being,” mentioned SRP Well being Scientist Administrator Heather Henry, Ph.D., who leads this system. “CycloPure is doing simply that. It’s a outstanding achievement that solely 4 years after their grant began, they’ve launched a product that may assist communities cut back their publicity to PFAS.”

Environment friendly know-how

DEXSORB+ makes use of renewable cup-shaped cyclodextrins, derived from corn starch, to bind and take away all 40 PFAS focused within the U.S. Environmental Safety Company (EPA) PFAS Roadmap.

“Our cyclodextrins are very small, 0.78 nanometers to be precise, and in a single gram of DEXSORB+, there are over 300 quintillion cyclodextrin cups,” Cassou defined. “This permits our know-how to quickly bind a wide range of PFAS compounds quicker and extra effectively than different filtration supplies, like activated carbon.”

On March 17, the Nationwide Sanitation Basis (NSF) Worldwide licensed this filter as environment friendly and protected for consuming water therapy and authorised its use for industrial functions.

“The event of Purefast was a two-year course of,” mentioned Cassou. “We put Purefast by rigorous testing below totally different situations to make sure efficiency was inside NSF’s PFAS restrict of 70 components per trillion. In lab, we confirmed zero PFAS detection for 65 gallons of water filtration.”

Illustrated example of how DEXSORB+ uses renewable cup-shaped cyclodextrins, derived from corn starch, to bind and remove all 40 PFAS targeted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) CycloPure describes their know-how as “science by nature” as a result of cyclodextrins are created from corn and are completely suited to seize and take away small molecule contaminants. (Photograph courtesy of CycloPure)

Prioritizing sustainability, wholesome communities

“Sustainability is one in every of our high priorities,” mentioned Cassou. “We’re working onerous to ensure all supplies are correctly and safely disposed or reused.”

Every Purefast cartridge comes with a package deal and pay as you go label to return the filter to Cyclopure’s lab, the place the contaminants might be transformed into salts and safely disposed with out harming the setting.

At Cyclopure’s lab, DEXSORB+ can be regenerated, permitting the staff to re-use their know-how for a wide range of water filtration functions.

Their staff of specialists works carefully with communities throughout the U.S. with excessive ranges of PFAS contamination, repeatedly testing their consuming water provides and speaking outcomes. One in every of their partnering communities in Massachusetts just lately bought 3,000 items to supply protected consuming water to all households of their city.

(Mali Velasco is a analysis and communication specialist for MDB Inc., a contractor for the NIEHS Superfund Analysis Program.)


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