( Ohio State University study has found t...)Fresh Water Algae Filtered Out With Water Filtration Technique,Health

Ohio State University study has found that a water filtration technique which is used to clean up agricultural chemicals is proving beneficial in removing a toxin //produced by an algae found in lakes and rivers. Engineers are extremely happy with this technique, far more efficient than any other method, with a 95% success rate of removal of the toxins.

Some water filtration plants around the country already use the technique, which couples activated carbon with membrane filters, said Hal Walker, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science at Ohio State.

Microcystis is native to freshwater lakes and rivers around the country, and secretes toxins that can cause liver damage in animals including humans. Worsening environmental pollution in Lake Erie during the last decade has caused algal blooms, the most recent of which began this August.

Some 13 million people rely on Lake Erie for their water supply, so Microcystis is a growing concern there, Walker said. But dangerous algal blooms have occurred across the country this summer, from Massachusetts to California.

And while many water filtration plants are beginning to use high-tech ultra filtration membranes with very fine holes to filter water, Microcystin toxins are small enough to slip through. For example, the toxin used in this study was microcystin-lr, a tiny molecule made up of only seven amino acids.

The study will appear in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, and has been published in advance on the journal's Web site.

Rather than invent a new technology for filtering microcystin-lr, Walker and his colleagues decided to test whether combining activated carbon with membrane filters would do the trick. That technology has already proven effective for removing herbicides and pesticides from drinking water.

"This toxin is an organic molecule, and we knew that activated carbon is goo
'"/>




Page: 1 2 3
Related medicine news :

1. Fresh approach to TB treatment
2. Fresh warnings to doctors regarding abortion pill
3. Fresh Cases of Bird-Flu Prepares the Ground for More Chicken Martyrs
4. Fresh Bird Flu Cases Spotted In Southern Russia
5. Pakistan Scared By Fresh Bird Flu Case
6. Fresh Polio Cases Reported In Uttar Pradesh
7. Nothing Can Equate Fresh Vegetables and Fruits
8. Fresh Outbreak Of Bird Flu In Nigeria
9. Foreign Fresher Students Offered Scholarship By Fudan
10. Fresh bird flu vaccines made in China
11. Freshness Dating? Researchers Express Doubts