Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a method to quickly and cheaply remove more than 99 percent of bisphenol A (BPA) from water.

BPA is a dangerous chemical that is used in manufacturing many plastics and is found in water sources around the world. BPA products can be found in products from DVDs and eyeglass lenses to cash register receipts, exposing humans and wildlife to the chemical regularly.

Studies have shown that BPA adversely affects brain and nervous system development, growth and metabolism as well as the reproductive system of fish, mammals and human cells. More than 15 billion pounds of BPA are still being produced annually, leading to a significant challenge to cleaning up and containing BPA contamination.

"There is no escape from BPA — for any living creature," says Terrence J. Collins, a chemist at Carnegie Mellon University. "The massive global use of BPA burdens an already overstrained water treatment infrastructure and most BPA water releases simply never reach a water treatment facility. Our approach has high potential to be a much better remediation strategy for BPA-contaminated waste streams."

The new method offers a simple, effective and cheap cleanup solution involving a number of catalysts called TAML activators — small molecules that mimic oxidizing enzymes. When combined with hydrogen peroxide, TAML activators break down harmful chemicals in water.

Researchers found that adding TAMLs and hydrogen peroxide to water heavily contaminated with BPA resulted in a 99 percent reduction of BPA within 30 minutes at near neutral pH. The catalysts caused BPA to assemble into larger units called oligomers, which clump together and can be quickly removed from the water.

Researchers found that the nature of the bonds that stick the BPA molecules together do not allow the oligomers to revert to BPA. They tested it with Tiered Protocol for Endocrine Disruption (TiPED) assays and found TAML-treated BPA water did not show estrogen activity or cause abnormalities in yeast and developing zebrafish embryos.

"Because TAML/hydrogen peroxide treatment eliminates BPA from water so easily at concentrations that are similar to a variety of waste streams including paper plant processing solutions and landfill leachate, assuming the lab studies transfer to the real world, we can now offer a new and simple procedure for reducing BPA exposures worldwide," Collins says.

The full research can be found in the journal Green Chemistry.