A uncouth bacterium find in the stain of New Jersey and similar climate could be effective in breaking down harmful pollutants that vex considerable threats to the environment and human health , unexampled research suggests .
In testing ground psychometric test , Acidimicrobium bacteria A6 successfully broke down up to 60 percentage of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS ) , a group of human being - made chemicals used around the world in a change of merchandise , from non - stick pans to solid food packaging . PFAS are difficult to interrupt down both in the environment and in the human body , and exposure to the chemical substance can have adverse human health effect , including low infant parturition weights , cancer , and thyroid internal secretion disruption , note theUS Environmental Protection Agency(EPA ) . The substance is long - lived and difficult to remove from grease and groundwater , prompting the EPA to launch a research endeavor into how the chemical substance can affect drinking H2O .
Princeton researchers first come across the bacterium twelvemonth ago when they noticed it broke down ammonium – a fundamental component of PFAS – when it was retrieve in acidic , iron - rich soils in New Jersey ’s wetland . They dubbed it theFeammox processbut discover it can only occur in the presence of iron , which made produce and cultivating the bacterium a hard and lengthy project .
Isolating the bacteria required some clever thinking by researchers to outfit an electrical anode ( a fancy word for a metal rod ) to react with the bacterium and allow it to grow so that the team could sequence its genetic information .
Writing in the journalEnvironmental Science and Technology , the team took their research to the next storey . Two different types of PFAS were stored in laboratory vials with Acidimicrobium bacteria A6 and observed over the course of 100 days . They found it take away up to 60 percent of contaminants and released the same amount of fluoride in the process .
Though exciting , the researchers are agile to caution that there is more employment to be done .
" This is a proof of concept , " said study co - generator Peter Jaffe in astatement . " We would like to get the remotion higher , and then go and essay it in the field of view . "
The team notes that longer incubation periods may ensue in high levels of removal and plan on take next tests with change condition in the futurity .
