Scientists Create 5-Minute Test for Forever Chemicals

Testing your tap water for dangerous forever chemicals just got 100 times faster and cheaper, thanks to two scientists who accidentally stumbled onto a breakthrough while tackling a different problem.

Ryan Davis and Nathan Bays at Sandia National Laboratories were working on ways to remove PFAS from water when they hit a wall. Every time they wanted to test a sample, they had to wait hours or even days for results. The traditional process was maddeningly slow, requiring expensive cartridges that cost hundreds of dollars and multiple rounds of extraction.

PFAS, nicknamed forever chemicals, are toxic compounds that never break down naturally in the environment. They contaminate drinking water, build up in human bodies, and have been linked to serious health problems. Until now, testing for them has been too expensive and time-consuming for most people to access.

The pair decided to experiment with a mass spectrometer and a technique called desorption electrospray ionization. They placed a tiny adsorbent particle (about the size of a Rice Krispie) into water samples, waited three minutes, then sprayed it with electrically charged droplets that carried any PFAS directly into the analyzer.

The results shocked them. Not only did it work, but it detected PFAS at concentrations down to parts per trillion, far more sensitive than they expected. The entire test takes just five minutes from start to finish.

"It was surprising to see the concentration of PFAS so clearly," Davis said. "That may be why it hadn't been done before. It was just unexpected."

The researchers immediately published their findings in the journal ACS Omega, hoping companies will commercialize the technology. Their goal is to make testing accessible not just for researchers and regulators, but for regular people who want to check their own tap water.

The Ripple Effect

Beyond drinking water, the technique could revolutionize how we detect all kinds of environmental pollutants. The team is already adapting it to test air quality and detect off-gassing chemicals. What started as a frustrating delay in their research has opened doors to faster environmental monitoring across multiple fields.

Davis and Bays have spent years developing technologies to actually remove PFAS from water sources. Now, with a quick and affordable testing method in hand, they can accelerate that work while giving communities the tools to identify contamination in real time.

The breakthrough proves that sometimes the best discoveries happen when you stop to solve the annoying problems standing in your way.