First 'Nanorust' Field Test Slated in Mexico: Guanajuato Will Be First to Try Rice's Arsenic-Cleansing 'Nanorust'
Summary posted by Meridian on 5/28/2009
Source: Rice University
Author: n/a
Researchers at Rice University, Texas, announced this week that the first field tests of "nanorust," a low-cost technology for removing arsenic from drinking water, will begin later this year in Guanajuato, Mexico. Arsenic-poisoned drinking water is a global problem that affects tens of millions of people in Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Europe. Prolonged exposure to this colorless, odorless and tasteless element can lead to skin discoloration, sickness and cancer. "Nanorust" removes arsenic from water because its tiny particles of iron oxide naturally bind with arsenic. The Rice team plans to test nanorust-coated sand that will be used as filters to treat groundwater from wells. Vicki Colvin, nanorust inventor, professor of chemistry at Rice and the director of Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), said "Mexico's debating the adoption of more stringent national standards for allowable levels of arsenic in drinking water, and officials in Guanajuato are looking ahead to explore ways they might meet stricter new standards." The article can be viewed online at the link below.
The original article may still be available at www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=12617&SnID=15...
As tagged by Meridian Institute:
Implications:
Human Enhancement, Governance
Nanomaterials:
Metal Nanoparticle
Regions:
North America, South America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, East and South Asia and the Pacific, Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA)
Stakeholders:
Government, Industry, NGO, Academia, International Institutions
Water And Sanitation:
Purification, Quality
Minerals And Metals:
Metals
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