Researchers may have found an effective, green way to remove microplastics from our water using readily available plant materials. Their device was found to capture up to 99.9% of a wide variety of microplastics known to pose a health risk to humans.
  • @jackpot@lemmy.ml
    20•11 months ago

    “To create bioCap, the researchers used sawdust as a substrate through which to filter water, given its superior chemical and physical stability and the fact that it contains cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, which facilitate efficient water transport. They modified the sawdust by adding tannic acid, a naturally occurring plant polyphenol found in almost all plants without underground root systems.”

  • @parpol@programming.dev
    13•11 months ago

    Is there a mask version? As far as I know, the microplastics penetrate our blood brain barriers by first penetrating our lungs as we breath the flying particles in.

    • @d3Xt3r@beehaw.org
      17•11 months ago

      Also, the article doesn’t mention anything about nanoplastics, which are far more dangerous. Nanoplastics have a larger surface area, which makes them more reactive - they can also penetrate cells, and cause damage to DNA, proteins, etc.