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Removing nanoplastics from water

September 26, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Plastic pollution is a growing problem for people and for the environment in multiple ways.  When plastics break down over time, they can form small particles called microplastics – bits smaller than sesame seeds – and these, in turn, can break down into even smaller pieces called nanoplastics.  They are too small to be seen with the naked eye and can enter the body’s cells and tissues.

Recent studies have shown that nanoplastics are increasingly showing up in bottled water.  In fact, measurements on several popular brands of bottled water found an average of nearly a quarter million tiny pieces of plastic in a single liter of bottled water.

The health effects of ingesting all of this plastic are not really known, but they are unlikely to be anything good.  Finding a way of avoiding this contamination of the beverages we drink is a pressing need.

Researchers at the University of Missouri have created a new liquid-based solution that eliminates more than 98% of microscopic plastic particles from water.  The method makes use of water-repelling solvents made from safe, non-toxic natural ingredients. A small amount of this designer solvent absorbs plastic particles from a large volume of water.

The solvent sits on the water’s surface.  When mixed with the water, it absorbs the plastic and eventually comes back to the surface carrying the plastic leaving behind clean, plastic -free water.

Ultimately, the hope is to scale up the process so it can be applied to increasingly large amounts of water – even lakes and, eventually, oceans.  There is work to be done, but it is a potential way to address an increasingly worrisome and pervasive form of pollution.

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Mizzou scientists achieve more than 98% efficiency removing nanoplastics from water

Photo, posted August 9, 2012, courtesy of Enid Martindale via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Car tires in your salad

June 26, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Leafy green vegetables may contain tire particles

There seems to be no end to the types of pollution we have introduced into the environment.  One that has only recently started to gain attention is pollution caused by vehicle tires. 

Through normal wear and tear, as vehicles drive along roadways, their tires cast off countless bits of rubber.  These particles can linger in the atmosphere or can be washed down sewage drains and into waterways.  In the water, these particles leach compounds that are toxic to wildlife.

Tires contain various chemical additives that prevent them from cracking and degrading along with various metals and other materials added to rubber and artificial rubber.  Some of these additives are acutely toxic or even carcinogenic.

A recent study by researchers at the University of Vienna tested leafy vegetables that were grown in Switzerland, Spain, and Italy, and were sold in Swiss supermarkets.  The study also tested vegetables harvested directly from Israeli farmlands.

Tire ingredients were found in 11 out of 15 samples gathered from Swiss supermarkets and 9 out of 13 samples collected from Israeli fields.  Among these are 6PPD, a tire additive that has been identified as the cause of the extensive deaths of coho salmon on the US West Coast.

The researchers say that farmers may be introducing tire additives by irrigating crops with treated wastewater or by using sewage sludge as fertilizer.  Airborne tire particles may also be settling on farm soil.

The concentration of tire particles found in the leafy vegetables are relatively low, but it is troubling that we are eating dangerous chemicals used to improve the quality of tires.

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Leafy Vegetables Found to Contain Tire Additives

Photo, posted October 14, 2014, courtesy of Green Mountain Girls Farm via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastics In The Air | Earth Wise

October 25, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Plastic pollution is a growing problem

Plastic pollution is a big deal.  There are plastics clogging up landfills and waterways and accumulating in the oceans, choking turtles and seabirds.  Annual production of plastics has grown from 2 million tons a year in 1950 to more than 450 million tons today.

As if plastic problems weren’t already big enough, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are growing amounts of microplastic particles in the air. Bits of plastic are lofted into the sky from seafoam bubbles and from spinning tires on highways.  The particles are so light that they can travel for thousands of miles, far from where they originate.

Studies in recent years documented the presence of plastic particles even in places like the Pyrenees in Europe and in federally protected areas of the US.  Other studies have measured the quantity of plastic in the air of various locations and have looked at the origins of the particles.

In the western US, over 80% of microplastics came from roads where vehicles kick up particles from tires and brakes.   In remote areas of the Pacific, there is less than a single particle of plastic per cubic meter of air.  In cities like London and Beijing, on the other hand, there can be several thousand particles per cubic meter.

Microplastics can act as airborne aerosols, like dust, salt, soot, volcanic ash, and other particles.  Aerosols play an important role in the formation of clouds and in temperature regulation on the earth.  At low concentrations, such as exist in most places, microplastic aerosols don’t have much of an effect.  But there are more in the atmosphere all the time and, at this point, scientists don’t really know what effect they will have.

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Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate?

Photo, posted August 28, 2014, courtesy of Alan Levine via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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