Researchers at Clarkson University in New York are using plasma charges to destroy two suspected carcinogens that have been found in wells around the Chemours plant, which is off N.C. 87 near the Cumberland County line.
The effect on humans from GenX is not known; it is connected to several forms of cancer in animal studies.
A state Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman said the state’s Science Advisory Board is focusing on GenX and other emerging contaminants now.
The research at Clarkson University and a separate study at the Colorado School of Mines, in the Denver suburb of Golden, are connected to an Air Force initiative aimed at cleaning groundwater contaminated with PFOA and PFOS.
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Broad Agency Announcement program is seeking to find better, faster and more sustainable solutions to deal with the compounds, according to a statement released by the Air Force.
The researchers have been working on the project for about three years, Thagard said.
The Air Force primarily uses granular activated carbon filters to clean drinking water contaminated with the chemicals, the statement said.
The filters are effective, but there are drawbacks, according to Cornell Long, who is leading the Air Force Civil Engineer Center team working on the issue.
“One of the Air Force’s goals is to find a technology that destroys PFOS and PFOA to the basic elements or at least to safe, simple compounds,” he said.
The Colorado School of Mines project is focused on using a high-pressure membrane filtration system in combination with a photochemical process designed to destroy the chemicals, according to the Air Force statement.