Fukushima Soil Decontamination: Lessons learned
Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011, the Japanese authorities decided to carry out major decontamination works in the affected…
Pollution
Cleaner Industrial Emissions by Scrubbing CO2 From Smokestacks
An international team co-led by an Oregon State University chemistry researcher has uncovered a better way to scrub carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions, which could…
Polar Bears at Sea Have Higher Pollution Levels Than Those Staying on Land – Here’s Why
As the climate changes, myriad animal populations are being impacted. In particular, Arctic sea-ice is in decline, causing polar bears in the Barents Sea region…
Warning: Potentially Toxic Chemicals in Nearly Half of Household Dust Samples Tested
Chemicals commonly used in smartphone, television, and computer displays were found to be potentially toxic and present in nearly half of dozens of samples of…
“Venus Flytrap” Bio-Sensors Engineered to Snare Pollutants
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have created a suite of new biological sensors by chemically re-engineering pigments to act like tiny Venus flytraps. The sensors…
Remarkable Health Benefits Shown Following Air Pollution Reduction
Reductions in air pollution yielded fast and dramatic impacts on health-outcomes, as well as decreases in all-cause morbidity, according to findings in “Health Benefits of…
Mutated Ferns Show Poisonous Factor in Ancient Mass Extinction
Most researchers believe that the mass extinction 201 million years ago was caused by release of CO2 by volcanism with global warming as a consequence….
Smog-Eating Graphene Composite Reduces Atmospheric Pollution With Sunlight
Graphene Flagship partners the University of Bologna, Politecnico di Milano, CNR, NEST, Italcementi HeidelbergCement Group, the Israel Institute of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, and…
Black Carbon Found in the Amazon River – Most From Recent Forest Burnings
International study quantified and characterized charcoal and soot produced by incomplete burning of trees and transported by river to the Atlantic. Besides swathes of destroyed…
Turning Waste Plastic Into Filtration Membranes
Discarded PET bottles could find a new life in the chemical industry. In a world that seems to be drowning in plastic bottles, recycling this…
New Material Captures Toxic Air Pollutant and Converts Into Useful Chemical
Metal-organic framework material requires only water and air to convert the captured gas into nitric acid for industrial use. An international team of scientists, led…
New Findings Call Into Question Current Understanding of Earth’s Sulfur Cycle
Laboratory results from Leipzig question current knowledge on the degradation of dimethyl sulfide within the sulfur cycle. An international research team was able to experimentally…
Larval Fish Nurseries Invaded by Prey-Size Plastics – Biodiversity and Fisheries Production Threatened
New research shows that many larval fish species from different ocean habitats are surrounded by and ingesting plastics in their preferred nursery habitat. Many of…
98% of Plastics Entering the Oceans Go Missing Each Year – Here’s the Likely Culprit
Trillions of plastic fragments are afloat at sea, which cause large “garbage patches” to form in rotating ocean currents called subtropical gyres. As a result,…
Invasive Species to Blame for High Mercury Concentrations in Great Lakes Fish
According to a new study published yesterday (November 4, 2019) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 40 years of reduced mercury use,…
For Decades Researchers Claimed Potted Plants Improve Indoor Air Quality – They Don’t
Plants can help spruce up a home or office space, but claims about their ability to improve the air quality are vastly overstated, according to…
What You Believe About Indoor Air Health Risks Is Probably Wrong
According to the National indoor air survey by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, people believe that the health risks related to indoor air are…
New Metal-Organic Framework Eliminates Toxic Sulfur Dioxide Gas 99.99999%
An international team has developed a robust material that can selectively take in toxic sulfur dioxide gas at record concentrations and preserve it for use…