UNC researchers find new types of PFAS in the Cape Fear River

Previously unknown types of toxic chemicals known as PFAS have been discovered in the Cape Fear River.

Researchers at the UNC-Chapel Hill used samples from the Cape Fear River collected in 2016. Using a new detection method, researchers tested the samples and found 47 different PFAS. Of those, 11 had not been previously detected in the river, and eight had not been detected anywhere outside of a lab.

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“And none of these eight were even on that

14,000,” said Erin Baker, a UNC chemistry professor whose lab pioneered this work. “So [this] really shows us that there’s a lot more chemical space that we’re not even able to predict right now.”

WUNC