CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVD) -- North Carolina has been at the center of the growing concern over "forever chemicals" contaminating water systems, but a professor at UNC Charlotte may have found a solution.
Dr. Jordan Poler, a chemistry professor at UNC Charlotte, has developed a purification system that removes highly toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been detected in private wells and drinking water systems across North Carolina and the nation, often released into the environment by manufacturing companies.
Poler has spent years working on a sustainable solution and has developed an ion exchange filtration system that uses inexpensive, nontoxic ingredients to remove PFAS. The canisters used in the system can also be refilled and reused.
"Every six months or so, you probably buy one of these," Poler said, holding up a common refrigerator water filter. "And you throw it in the garbage. So all the contaminants that filter has already removed from your water it does a good job, it's made of carbon, does a good job, not as good as ion exchange, but it's fine-all that stuff then gets put into a landfill, where those impurities just leach back out and go into our aquifers and repollute the environment.
"What we're developing is a regenerable, reusable material," he added. "So instead of taking it out of your fridge and throwing it away, why don't you just ship it back to me? Because I can regenerate it, make it as good as new, and send you a new one."
Poler is now working with Monroe-based Goulston Technologies to scale up the drinking water purification system. He and another UNC Charlotte professor recently received funding from the NC Innovations grant program, which helps scientists at the state's public universities bring research from the lab to the market.
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