Heavy Metals in the Ocean Become More Toxic

How Climate Change Impacts Contaminants in the Sea

11-Oct-2024 - Toxic trace elements such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium occur naturally in small quantities in coastal seas. However, human activities such as industry and agriculture contribute significantly larger amounts. A new study has examined how climate change is already affecting the ...

Cheap and sustainable cleansing of water from heavy metals

Researchers develop filter systems based on lignin

27-Aug-2024 - In order to cleanse wastewater of heavy metals, industry has to resort to highly refined filter technologies. Often, the production of these very technologies is not truly environmentally friendly either. Vienna-based researchers are now developing filter systems based on lignin, a waste product ...

Plant-inspired polymers for water purification

German-Japanese research team takes inspiration from nature, creating a polymer that selectively removes toxic heavy metal ions from water

31-Jul-2024 - Clean drinking water is a basic demand for our health and wellbeing. However, as the global population grows, achieving this for all communities worldwide becomes more challenging. Now, in a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from the HeKKSaGOn Alliance – involved were ...

Non-exhaust emissions from trains are not negligible

Trains cause particulate matter pollution along railway lines

24-Jul-2024 - One of the first major studies on abrasion emissions from rail vehicles shows that a lot of particulate matter contaminated with heavy metals is produced especially along railway lines. In addition to exhaust emissions, abrasion emissions from tyres and brakes have become increasingly important ...

Green steel from toxic red mud

An economical process with green hydrogen can be used to extract CO2-free iron from the red mud generated in aluminium production

01-Feb-2024 - The production of aluminium generates around 180 million tonnes of toxic red mud every year. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, a centre for iron research, have now shown how green steel can be produced from aluminium production waste in a relatively simple way. In an ...

Hazardous ingredients in batteries

Trust, but verify! A long and winding road to an innovative method

29-Sep-2023 - Although strict limits exist, old types of batteries can still contain too many hazardous ingredients such as mercury, cadmium and lead. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has therefore launched a control campaign. Empa has laid the foundations for this with a novel tailor-made method ...

Magnetic bacteria can help to extract dangerous heavy metals from wastewater

Filigree sewage plants

10-May-2023 - A research team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has managed to purify water containing uranium using a special kind of bacteria known as magnetotactic bacteria. The name derives from their ability to react to magnetic fields. They can accumulate dissolved heavy metal in their ...

Microplastics could make other pollutants more harmful

Sunscreens contain compounds that could interact with microplastics and other pollutants, potentially making them more harmful

06-Dec-2022 - Microplastics — small plastic pieces less than five millimeters in length — are becoming a ubiquitous ecological contaminant. Studies suggest that on their own, these tiny bits are potentially harmful, and it’s unclear what effect they could have on pollutants that latch onto them. Now, ...

Catching up with quicksilver: MXene material can counter mercury contamination

Researchers show carboxylated MXene can efficiently treat mercury contaminated water

17-Aug-2022 - Researchers estimate that mercury emissions in the atmosphere have quadrupled since the Industrial Revolution. The heavy metal, generated by burning fossil fuels and the disposal of industrial and medical waste, has become so persistent in aquatic environments that the U.S. Food and Drug ...

Effective metal extraction with electron-stimulated microorganisms by bioleaching

25-Jul-2022 - Researchers are working on solution for the economical consumption of resources, their recycling and the future recovery of new raw material sources, as well as on an environmentally friendly but still demand-oriented extraction worldwide. The extraction of heavy metals from their ores with the ...