Emerging Technology Project

Project Description

This project is an exploration of a piece of emerging technology and researching how it is being rolled out, and how it could potentially benefit society. After choosing and researching the emerging tech, we are to put together a presentation that will inform out classmates of the tech itself, its advantages and potential drawbacks, and the impact it might have on our daily lives in the future.

PFAS Destruction

I came across this piece of emerging technology listed on a report that was put together by the World Economic Forum. I remember when stories of "forever chemical" was first being reported on and remembering how horrifying and irreversible the problem seemed. Naturally, when I saw this listed as a piece of emerging technology, I wanted to investigate and learn more about it; this is my main motivation for choosing this piece of emerging technology.

Interesting Facts

• PFAS are a class of chemicals that are defined by a chemical bond between a carbon and a fluorine atom. It is one of the strongest bonds in all of chemistry and is what provides the desired properties for industrial applications, i.e. can withstand high temperatures, corrosion, etc. However, that very fact is what makes them so persistent and incredibly hard to dispose.

• PFAS is so prevalent, it has been detected in precipitation on every continent and in the blood of nearly every human ever tested.

• The idea of using pressure, heat, and other chemicals to destroy persistent chemical isn't particularly new, but the real breakthrough is the ability to apply this tech to target specific PFAS chemicals, at scale, and in a cost-effective manner.

Lessons Learned

The biggest lesson I've learned is that, even when there are times when problems can seem impossible to solve, there are smart people who have not given up and are able to present solutions. I remember about a decade ago when I first heard about PFAS and just how prevalent it was, I thought the situation was hopeless. I knew they were extremely prevalent, but, prior to this research, I didn't know it was to the point of contaminating nearly the entire population of the planet. Needless to say, when I saw it on the World Economic Forum website, I jumped at wanting to learn more about it. While it's currently ubiquitous and is affecting health outcomes, it's comforting to know that something is being done about it, and there is a possibility of a brighter future ahead.