"Forever chemicals" are found in daily items such as pizza boxes and frying pans. They can cause serious health problems. This is because they are toxic and it is hard to break them down as waste products.
Chemists in the USA and China have now found a method to break down these polluting compounds, called PFAS. Their findings are a solution to a long-standing problem for the environment.
PFAS were invented in the 1940s. They are now found in many different products. Over time, these pollutants have collected in the environment, entering the air, soil, lakes and rivers.
The solution is a mixture of a soap ingredient and a solvent. When the solution is boiled, most of the PFAS break down into harmless products in a few hours.
