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UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

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Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#71

Post by esafak »

hosh wrote: post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

Looks like an unsung hero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(Canadian_biologist)

Are his books good? If so I'll order a copy of Healing Earth for the library.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#72

Post by sp332 »

hosh wrote: post #62
soperj wrote: post #43

I like how we all now know that microplastics and PFAS seriously contaminate our water sources, but there's no real thought about things like nanotubes doing the same thing. Wonder what consuming carbon nanotubes might do to us.

Unless there is something special about carbon chains, ingesting them is probably like ingesting activated carbon. Ingested activated carbon is part of a treatment for poison. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon Inhaling it though, is a really bad idea.

Well yeah it's a whole different shape (very pointy and can penetrate or shred cell membranes), and the electrical properties of graphene can be pretty weird.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#73

Post by jdeibele »

hosh wrote: post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

I've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#74

Post by hosh »

esafak wrote: post #71
hosh wrote: post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

Looks like an unsung hero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Todd_(Canadian_biologist) Are his books good? If so I'll order a copy of Healing Earth for the library.

One of the books I tried reading, reads like something non-scientific with a liberal sprinkling of mysticism. I personally don’t mind that, but it overshadows the science for people coming in from that way. It’s why I looked for talks that sounds more structured and coming from scientific principles.

This is a different video. If you know what it is going on, it’s interesting. It makes for a poor introduction to his work, let alone the significance: https://youtu.be/8_bxxUub9HU

Tldr: branding sucks, and it’s a shame more people don’t know what he and his colleagues have been up to.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#75

Post by petre »

joker_minmax wrote: post #54

I feel like we keep hearing about technologies like this that are going to change the world but none of them ever actually get implemented... just me?

If it's just tech, it's always too expensive, it has to be bacteria or alage or some other bio stuff that multiplies by itself to be useful.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#76

Post by hosh »

jdeibele wrote: post #73
hosh wrote: post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

I've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.

I have no idea. It was mentioned in the video I linked.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#77

Post by oever »

gpt5 wrote: post #65
Exuma wrote: post #12

I was wondering this literally yesterday... are there any current methods for filtering out microplastics? Currently I just have a filter within my fridge for drinking water... but I take it that doesnt do much

The simple carbon filter in your fridge should suffice. Sub micron microplastic (nanoplastics) have not been detected yet, and their sustained existence remains speculative. If you are still worried, just install a reverse osmosis system. It also has the benefit of filtering away sub-nanometer particles that are actually proven to have negative health effects (such as heavy metals and bacteria).

When microplastics break down they get smaller and become nanoplastics.

Nanoplastics have been detected.

Here is a paper that shows how to measure nanoplastics. Dilute solutions with polystyrene particles from 400nm down to 40nm were prepared and measured.

Demineralized water was put in a polystyrene cup. Microplastics were removed and the remaining nanoplastics were measured. A concentration of ~10^12 particles/l was found.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/en/d0en0...

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#78

Post by Modified3019 »

Exuma wrote: post #12

I was wondering this literally yesterday... are there any current methods for filtering out microplastics? Currently I just have a filter within my fridge for drinking water... but I take it that doesnt do much

One thing to be aware of, is some filters system have been found to introduce microplastics. I think it’s primarily the container/piping that does this, but it’s been a long while since I’ve looked at things. It’s not unreasonable to consider the filter housing also as a source.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#80

Post by oever »

jdeibele wrote: post #73
hosh wrote: post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

I've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.

The video referenced armored catfish. There are multiple species known as armored catfish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_catfish

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