“Biodegradable” is a misleading term for plastic substitutes that require heat to break down or industrial compositing conditions

26-May-2023

A widely used compostable plastic persists unchanged in marine environments for at least 14 months, according to a new study in PLOS ONEby Sarah-Jeanne Royer andcolleagues from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at theUniversity of California, San Diego.The study highlights the distinction ...

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22-May-2023

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) have numerous adverse health and environmental impacts and are important ozone precursors. Despite this, these pollutants are both under-researched and inadequately addressed in policy. A new study compares measurements of NMVOCs with their ...

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New class of materials selectively and efficiently removes herbicide from groundwater

13-Apr-2023

Clean drinking water is essential. Therefore, an international research team led by Dominik Eder has now shown how groundwater can be efficiently freed from pollutants such as glyphosate. Contaminated drinking water poses a major threat to our health. However, various pollutants such as ...

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Method can also be used against other types of pollutants

31-Mar-2023

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new method that can easily purify contaminated water using a cellulose-based material. This discovery could have implications for countries with poor water treatment technologies and combat the widespread problem of toxic ...

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Material scientists develop nano-structured and reusable substrate for ultra-sensitive detection of low-concentration analytes - Spin-off planned

29-Mar-2023

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (or Spectroscopy), known as SERS, is an advanced analysis method that extends the range of Raman applications to trace analysis such as part per million level detection of a pollutant in water or different liquids. SERS has a high potential to be used in the ...

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Genotoxins discovered for the first time using a novel method

06-Mar-2023

Vegetable oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids are highly recommended for a healthy diet. But these oils are not as healthy as thought: Prof. Dr. Gertrud Morlock, holder of the Chair of Life Sciences at Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), together with PhD student Daniel Meyer, has for the ...

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Chemicals from tyre wear could get into our vegetables via sewage sludge and waste water

05-Jan-2023

Wind, sewage sludge, and waste water carry tyre wear particles from roads onto farmland. A new lab study shows: The pollutants contained in the particles could get into the vegetables grown there. Researchers at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the ...

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Breakthrough process was developed for drinking water treatment and toxic site remediation

19-Dec-2022

An insidious category of carcinogenic pollutants known as “forever chemicals” may not be so permanent after all. University of California, Riverside, chemical engineering and environmental scientists recently published new methods to chemically break up these harmful substances found in drinking ...

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Scientists say more environmental pollutants should be considered in species protection

20-Jun-2022

Environmental chemical pollution threatens biodiversity. However, the complexity of this pollution remains insufficiently recognised by decision-makers - this is what international researchers led by Gabriel Sigmund from the University of Vienna and Ksenia Groh from the Swiss Federal Institute of ...

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Soot as a surprising source of haze-building hydroxyl radicals: new perspectives for air purification and the energy industry

05-Apr-2022

Haze is formed when a cocktail of various gaseous pollutants is oxidized and forms particulate matter diffusing sunlight. This process is mainly mediated by hydroxyl radicals (OH), and researchers have now discovered a new route to their formation. This newly discovered radical-building mechanism ...

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