People are the foundation of all cross-border cooperation. Interreg Aurora is happy to present the people and different professions working across borders with the aim to improve our daily lives.
Meet Kamonwan Khanthong, doctoral researcher at University of Oulu
I have a master’s degree in Bioengineering. I am working in the Chemical process engineering unit at the Faculty of technology at University of Oulu. I have been working with biological process for wastewater treatment since 2013.
I am working in the Interreg Aurora funded project NeTo-PFAS. The projects aim to create a sustainable and cost-effective solution for managing PFAS-contaminated groundwater and soil. This is important because PFAS are chemicals that are extremely difficult to break down in nature and are also harmful to humans and the environment.
One of the main uses of PFAS is in Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), that is a type of foam that fire departments use. Most of the fire-fighting training area are therefore contaminated. PFAS is also used in many everyday products, such as ski wax, all-weather clothing, food packaging made of paper and cardboard, frying pans, and cosmetics.
Developing new technologies
New technologies are needed to eliminate these harmful chemicals. I am working on microbial degradation of PFAS.
To break down PFAS, tiny organisms called microbes need to get PFAS into their cells. These microbes also need special enzymes that can break the strong bonds in PFAS. After breaking down PFAS, the microbes must get rid of the fluoride. The researchers in the project collect microbes from places with PFAS pollution and test how well the microbes can break down the PFAS chemicals.
Combining complementary expertise by cross-border cooperation
The benefits of working in a cross-border project is all the gathered knowledge about this topic. We can combine our complementary expertise. When there are questions or problems, everyone can share their competences and thoughts so that we can find solutions and move forward.
Our project colleagues from Luleå University of Technology are researching electrochemical degradation of PFAS. A cross-border cooperation project gives a great opportunity to combine our research in Oulu about microbial degradation and the research in Luleå about electrochemistry to degrade PFAS.
Research that matters
Everyone on this planet will benefit from the results of our project, including future generations who will live on this planet.
I hope that in the future when new chemicals or substances are introduced into the world, we should first assess their harmful effects on humans and the environment. Whether it is worth it and necessary for us to use the chemicals.
The NeTo-PFAS project has been appointed as an Operation of Strategic Importance by the Interreg Aurora Programme. This means a project which provides a significant contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the Interreg Aurora Programme. The EU Commission will be invited to visit and learn more about the project activities.
Learn more about the project NeTo-PFAS – Interreg Aurora and the project partners:
- University of Oulu
- Luleå University of Technology
- UiT, The Arctic University of Norway
#InterregAurora #CrossborderCooperation #PeopleandBeyond #NeTo-PFAS
