2023-09-03 06:00:07
Plastic pollution in waters is at the heart of scientific news. Recent studies have shown that microplastics could be found in our heart tissues or even in our brain (see our article on the subject ici). To fight against this scourge, scientists have just invented a new system of filtered composed exclusively of organic and biodegradable elements, capable of retaining up to 99.9% of the micro and nano-plastics present in the water.
The team of researchers from the University of British Columbia, recently presented the result of this study. They have developed a filter, called “bioCap”, composed in particular of tannic acids from plants, wood dust, bark and leaves. This totally natural process is very effective in retaining the finest and most dangerous plastic particles for the health.
As part of their research, the scientists pumped water rich in microplastics, and then observed that their technique was able to trap up to 99.9% of a wide variety of microplastics known to be dangerous to the environment. human health (the rate varying from 95.2% to 99.9% of particles depending on the type of plastic). The microplastics used in this experiment were polystyrene, polypropylenepolyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalatethe polyethylene and poly(methyl methacrylate). By comparison, the use of sawdust not treated withtannic acid showed an elimination rate of less than 10%, which demonstrates the usefulness of the polyphénol to capture these microplastics.
Tests were then carried out on smaller particles capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. As part of this experiment, a group of mouse was fed with bioCap treated water and another group drank unfiltered water. The results demonstrated that when rodents drank filtered water, the accumulation of microplastics in their organs was markedly reduced.
The main difficulty encountered lies in the ability to develop a single solution capable of capturing all types of plastics, since they are all of different sizes, shapes and electrical characteristics. However, this technology is impressively effective. She is still at stade experimental, but the researchers estimate that it could easily be deployed at an affordable cost. Furthermore, unlike plastic filters, this solution has the advantage of not contributing to aggravating the pollution.
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#filter #capture #microplastics #water