Native plant shows promise for tackling `forever chemicals’
11 Mar 2026
Media release: University of Auckland | One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s taonga plants, harakeke, shows promise as a treatment for removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water.
Known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the chemicals are one of the greatest environmental challenges.
Linked to cancer and reduced fertility, PFAS are in the blood of humans and animals around the world.
In lab experiments at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, chemically treated harakeke outperformed other water treatment methods that were tested.
“Our research findings suggest there is a potential for developing a cost- effective PFAS treatment approach based on this native plant,” says Dr Lokesh Padhye.
He’s an honorary academic in the Faculty of Engineering and Design and the Associate Director of Emerging Contaminants Research at the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology.
“There is more work to be done, but the sustainability and availability of the material make it particularly promising,” says Padhye.
The “forever” name comes from the chemicals’ resistance to breaking down.
“Capturing forever chemicals would only add to the story of harakeke’s remarkable versatility,” says Professor Melanie Kah, of the School of the Environment.
Before colonisation, Māori used harakeke fibres for baskets, ropes, clothes, mats, bird snares and fishing nets, the nectar as a sweetener, dried flower stalks for rafts, the sap as a medicine, and root juice as a disinfectant. (By the way, the plant is a lily, not a flax.)
In the lab, treated harakeke fibre removed five PFAS from water, including three “short chain” PFAS, the most difficult ones to remove, says PhD student Shailja Data.
In the harakeke experiments, small containers held contaminated water and strands of processed harakeke chemically treated to attract the PFAS.
Mechanical shaking of the containers for 24 hours removed between 70 percent and 99 percent of individual short-chain PFAS, outperforming other materials tested in the study, says Data.
“The strength of the plant’s fibres is a big plus – they don’t easily fall apart,” she says.
The project spun off research by Professor David Barker, of the School of Chemical Sciences.
Back in 2019, Māori parents at his kids’ school objected to a harakeke cull, saying the plant cleaned stream water at the school.
Intrigued, Barker researched the plant under the University of Canterbury-led government-funded Science for Technological Innovation project. In tests, treated harakeke fibres removed nitrate from water, although his team moved on to other materials for that task.
The PFAS project is a collaboration between the University’s environmental, engineering, material and chemical scientists, stretching around the world now Padhye is at the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University.
Materials scientist Associate Professor Erin Leitao, who is in the School of Chemical Sciences and a co-author of a paper on the experiments, is leading research seeking alternatives to forever chemicals.
“Dealing with forever chemicals is a daunting task, but it must be done,” she says. Data, Barker and Leitao are all part of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
print this story
EDS says fast-track gold mine poses unacceptable environmental risks
Today 11:15am
Media release | The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has filed detailed legal submissions and expert evidence opposing the proposed Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project, warning that the mine presents significant environmental risks, major uncertainties, and overstated economic benefits.
Severe tropical cyclones Maila And Vaianu threaten communities in Solomon Islands, PNG and Fiji
Wed 8 Apr 2026
Media release: 350.org |Two Category 3 Tropical Cyclones are currently moving through the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, while experts watch a third system potentially developing in the North Pacific.
Fast-track approved project could deliver NZ’s largest wind farm
7 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Government |Fast-track approval has been granted for New Zealand’s largest wind farm project.
Sci-tech prioritisation report is a joke that could cost NZ dearly, says NZ Association of Scientists
2 Apr 2026
Media release: New Zealand Association of Scientists | The Prioritisation Report released yesterday by the Prime Minister’s Science Innovation and Technology Council makes a poor case for further cuts and changes to our research system.
Fifty years of observations, no reversal of glacier climate damage
31 Mar 2026
Media release: Earth Sciences New Zealand | Fifty years on from the first aerial survey of our Southern Alps glaciers, late snow and variable summer weather delivered a temporary reprieve from rapid ice loss, says Earth Sciences New Zealand.
Open letter: NZ needs an essential use allocation plan for fuel – now
30 Mar 2026
Wise Response Society | We are writing to make one demand: the government must publish a quantified, ranked essential use allocation plan for fuel - with litres-per-day allocations, tied to actual onshore stock levels and realistic resupply assumptions.
Cost of living dominates Kiwis’ concerns – but sustainability still shapes trust, choices and expectations of business
30 Mar 2026
Media release: Sustainable Business Council | The cost of living continues to emerge as New Zealanders’ top concern - yet sustainability continues to play a decisive role in how people judge businesses, according to new research.
AI tool predicts wildfire danger faster than current systems
26 Mar 2026
Media release | A wildfire forecasting system powered by artificial intelligence could help detect dangerous fire conditions earlier and reduce the cost of wildfire response, according to new research from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.
Worst in a generation: Environmentalists slam fisheries reform bill
25 Mar 2026
Media release: Greenpeace | The Fisheries Amendment Bill, which will likely have its first reading in parliament this week, is being labelled the worst fisheries policy in a generation by environmental groups who are calling for it to be rejected to protect ocean health.
New online tool helps Whakatāne district communities understand climate risks
24 Mar 2026
Media release | Whakatāne District Council has released a new online mapping tool to help people better understand how climate change and climate-related hazards could affect different parts of the district, now and into the future.
