Kiel based research group discovers nano-crystals at the interface between two liquids

12-04-2013

Not all liquids are mixable. Researchers from the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics of Kiel University (CAU) have investigated chemical processes with atomic resolution at the interface between two such liquids and have made an exciting discovery. During an experiment carried out ...

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Researchers develop nano-strips for inexpensive testing of mercury levels in our lakes and oceans with unprecedented sensitivity

11-09-2012

Mercury, when dumped in lakes and rivers, accumulates in fish, and often ends up on our plates. A Swiss-American team of researchers led by Francesco Stellacci at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Bartosz Grzybowski at Northwestern University has devised a simple, ...

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Volatile mercury from historic mirrors

24-07-2012

Ancient mirrors still exist which were made by applying mercury to a thin tin foil. Although their production was banned in 1886, owning one has never been prohibited. Over the years, the compound of tin and mercury (the so-called tin amalgam) corrodes or detaches from the glass, the ...

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22-03-2012

Electrical and electronic appliances are not only made from metallic materials, but also consist of up to more than 20% of plastics in average. These are found, for example, in casings or in base materials for circuit boards. No simple task for recycling companies, which find themselves ...

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Marine chemists from Warnemünde identify unexpected places and seasons of higher emission

28-10-2011

For the first time, mercury emissions of the Atlantic Ocean were investigated by comprehensive measurements, performed under the leadership of researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde. The scientists Joachim Kuss, Christoph Zülicke, Christa Pohl and Bernd ...

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19-09-2011

Northwestern University scientists have developed new materials that can detect hard radiation, a very difficult thing to do. The method could lead to a handheld device for detecting nuclear weapons and materials, such as a "nuclear bomb in a suitcase" scenario. "The terrorist attacks of 9/11 ...

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29-04-2011

University of Alberta-led research has confirmed that a relatively harmless inorganic form of mercury found worldwide in ocean water is transformed into a potent neurotoxin in the seawater itself. After two years of testing water samples across the Arctic Ocean, the researchers found that ...

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24-03-2011

Euro Chlor has finalised a scientific publication on the health effects of long-term, low to moderate exposure to metallic mercury. Currently in Europe less than one third of chlorine production is still based on mercury technology, with a view to phase this out completely by 2020. During ...

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BfR brochures "Cases of poisoning reported by physicians 2009" documents poisoning accidents of children

16-02-2011

Hospitals and poison information centres of the Federal States have notified the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) of cases of poisoning suffered by children and adolescents after their contact with metallic mercury on derelict industrial sites. In several cases the children had ...

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BfR research project on the intake of heavy metals and dioxins completed

14-01-2011

The final report of the research project "Foodborne exposure to environmental contaminants" (LExUKon) is now available. In this project scientists of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) have calculated, together with colleagues from the Research and Advisory Institute for ...

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