Hope for heavy metal clean-up
There is a glimmer of hope for heavy metal clean-up from polluted waterways, according to the Environmental News Network. An aerogel, “a type of rigid foam made from a gel in which most of the liquid has been replaced by gas” was tested by US researchers and found to effectively soak up metal ions from a liquid. The compound holds the potential to remove heavy metals, such as mercury and lead, as well as organic compounds from water.
Mercury is a serious pollutant because it is toxic, bioaccumulative and difficult to clean up. In ocean and other water ecosystems, mercury becomes methylmercury (the organic form) where it works its way through the food chain, compounds in each organism and into the diet of fish eating wildlife and people.
The Mercury Policy Project reports that:
Mercury exposure can cause severe learning disabilities and other neurodevelopmental problems in babies and young children. Recent Centers for Disease Control findings indicate that 8 percent of woman of childbearing age in the US have unsafe mercury levels, translating into over 300,000 babies born at risk each year.
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