A team of researchers has developed a method to re-use common plastics to break down other harmful pollutants found in wastewater. This method tackles two grave pollution issues at once: plastic pollution that threatens our ecosystems and presence of carcinogenic synthetic dyes in wastewater.
The team’s method portrays how polystyrene, a plastic frequently seen in packaging materials and cutlery, could be used to alter carcinogenic synthetic dyes used in the clothing industry and sewage plants, which often act as a reproductive toxin for humans and animals.
The paper is published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
The study was led by Julian Eastoe, professor of chemistry at University of Bristol, and Rodrigo J de Oliveira, adjunct professor of chemistry at Paraba State University in Brazil.
“This research suggests a promising approach to turn some of the vast amounts of plastic white pollution into a resource for tackling environmental damage elsewhere in the form of water materials for treatment,” Eastoe said in a statement. Read more>>>