PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’, are a group of over 4,700 man-made substances that have been used since the 1940s in products such as firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, stain- and water-resistant fabrics, cosmetics, and cleaning agents, thanks to their stability and surfactant properties. However, their strong carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds make them highly persistent, breaking down very slowly and accumulating in the environment, animals, and humans.

PFAS contamination is now widespread, with over 70,000 known impacted sites in the US and Europe. More than 99% of people in these regions have measurable levels of PFAS in their blood. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to a range of adverse health effects, including an increased risk of cancer, reduced fertility and weakened immunity. The estimated annual healthcare costs of PFAS exposure in Europe range from 50 to 80 billion euros. While some PFAS compounds are now regulated, legislation varies internationally and there are currently no effective methods to remove PFAS from the environment or the human body. This poses a significant challenge to planetary and human health.

This HALRIC pilot project, a collaboration between Cambiotics and the University of Oslo (UiO), will utilise UiO’s advanced capabilities in bacterial strain isolation, sequencing, and bioinformatics to identify and characterise strains capable of sequestering PFAS. The aim is for Cambiotics to develop precision probiotics for pollutant detoxification by isolating anaerobic bacterial strains from faecal samples using UiO’s high-throughput technologies.

For further information about this HALRIC pilot project, please contact:

 

Eric Jaques de Muinck
University of Oslo
e.j.de.muinck@ibv.uio.no