Our waterways are becoming more and more polluted due to PFAS, plastics, medicines, drugs, and new chemicals made by companies that just hand over the responsibility of cleaning to plants paid for by public moneys. Detecting the different chemicals and filtering them out if getting harder and harder. Could the simple solution of heating up past a point where even PFAS/forever chemicals decomposes (400C for PFAS, 500C to be more sure about other stuff) be alright?

  • Alloi@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 days ago

    Because you’re essentially cooking a cocktail of complex chemicals, many of which were never designed to be heated, and the result is often airborne toxins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are far worse than drinking trace amounts of the original chemicals.the chemicals dont vanish or turn into pure air when vaporized. they degrade into other more harmful chemicals. which are carcinogenic and more toxic.

              • Alloi@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                3 days ago

                pesticides, pharmeceuticals, PFAS or forever chemicals. all can be made much worse by boiling at over 500c, just forna few examples.

                • atro_city@fedia.ioOP
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  6 hours ago

                  For PFAS that definitely isn’t true

                  In the new EPA study, experts added oxidizing substances to water contaminated with PFASs and heated the liquid above its critical temperature of 374 degrees Celsius at a pressure of more than 220 bars. During this process, the water becomes what is called supercritical: it is neither a gas nor a liquid. In this state, even water-repellent substances such as PFASs dissolve much more readily, and at the same time, the state accelerates chemical reactions.

                  • Alloi@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    52 minutes ago

                    re read what you quoted, and then re read op’s question, then re read what i said.