Bethel research team develops new test to measure 'forever chemicals' breakdown

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found in drinking water, soil, food packaging, and—alarmingly—even the bloodstream of people around the world. These synthetic chemicals don’t easily break down in nature, so they’ve earned the nickname “forever chemicals.” Their widespread presence poses serious environmental and health concerns. 

Forever chemicals have been a topic of recent debate, but there hasn’t been a convenient way of quantifying just how quickly these substances break down in nature, if at all. 

A Bethel chemistry professor and two student researchers are working to change that. 

Associate Professor of Chemistry James Christenson ’12 was inspired by his professor and mentor Lawrence Wackett during his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. Wackett’s research focuses on biodegradation and understanding how naturally-occurring enzymes break down PFAS. In collaboration with the Wackett laboratory, Christenson worked with Holman Scholars Jack Hanson ’25 and Caroline Pauls ’25 to develop a way to test how quickly enzymes from nature can break down a specific class of PFAS that contain carboxylic acids.

“There wasn’t really a convenient assay or measurement available to test the speed of that breakdown,” explains Pauls, a biochemistry and chemistry double-major. 

“All PFAS are resistant to biodegredation because they have very strong carbon-fluorine bonds, and a specific group of PFAS containing a carboxylic acid are common. However, some bacterial enzymes can slowly break them down. If we want to get rid of this class of 'forever chemicals,' we have to first be able to measure how fast these enzymes work,” Christenson says. “Everyone needs a ruler!”

The new test relies on converting the products of defluorination reactions into colored products that can be continuously measured by a spectrophotometer. To run the test, Hanson and Pauls would quickly mix precise amounts of the enzyme and PFAS into 96-well plates. These plates—think plastic trays about the size of an index card—can be scanned by a spectrophotometer for color change. Over the next ten minutes, the rate of color change reveals the rate that the enzyme is degrading the PFAS. Pauls describes the process getting tiresome after a while and coming up with pipette races to see who could accurately finish their fills first. After a lot of development, Bethel and University of Minnesota researchers were able to quantify how quickly about 10 different PFAS molecules were degraded.

“These PFAS chemicals are used in coatings, nonstick pans, Teflon, aerosols, and even some types of dental floss. There are studies out there about their negative impact on human health and water quality, so I'm motivated to understand and quantify how PFAS can be removed," Christenson explains. "Another piece that motivates me is just the fascination with learning about God's world. Sometimes I just think, 'Wow! Here's a synthetic molecule that nothing in nature has ever seen, yet there are natural processes that already break this down.' It's so fun to explore God's world." 

“It showcases intelligent design, for sure,” adds Pauls.

"Donors have had a huge impact on this research, and I'm incredibly grateful for the broader Bethel community," Christenson adds. The collaboration of this project between Bethel and the University of Minnesota started in summer 2024, when Erin O'Neal '25 began this work with support from the donor-funded chemistry summer research endowment. Hanson and Pauls continued this work together as part of their senior seminar research required for their majors; both of them are supported by Holman Scholarships. Donors also helped provide the physical lab space; their research was housed in Bethel's new Nelson-Larson Science Center and recently-renovated lab spaces.

Research like this is also an opportunity to see faith play out in the laboratory in a practical way. Their research has implications for how these Royals understand the world that God created, and wider possibilities for how humanity might adjust course when it comes to using and mitigating PFAS in the future.

“Our classes integrate faith into science,” Hanson says, touching on a cornerstone element of the Bethel learning experience. “We do devotions together and are constantly asking, ‘how do we relate our learning to our faith?’ With this project specifically, the moral would be to create some sort of solution…to create new and specific knowledge about how we can clean up the environment, which is God’s creation. If we view the earth as Creation, we’re being stewards of that by trying to make it a cleaner space.” 

Student-faculty research is another unique component of Bethel’s undergraduate programs. While the research results are powerful, the impact relationships like this have on students can’t be overstated. Hanson and Pauls—like students in research positions or doing capstone projects across Bethel’s campus—are mentored by experienced faculty and learn experimental design, laboratory techniques, synthesis of results, and multimedia communication methods as they do cutting-edge research and present their findings to the Bethel community and far beyond.

This particular team shared at Bethel’s second annual Day of Scholarship, designed to give students and faculty an opportunity to showcase and celebrate their work among a cross-disciplinary group of peers. They also exhibited their work at an American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego in March; it’s one of the largest chemistry conferences of its kind in the United States, and Bethel students present there annually. This summer, they’ll submit their work to be published in the journal Microbial Biotechnology. 

During a sabbatical in spring 2026, Christenson will continue with related research, looking into how related processes impact water quality at EAWAG, the Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. Pauls is spending some time in a research role, followed by medical school. Hanson isn’t sure exactly where he’ll go from Bethel, but is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this project and explore something that’s so applicable to everyday life. 

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