Pollution

A benzodiazepine seeping into waterways is causing young Atlantic salmon to behave strangely, with fish in the wild migrating more rapidly and taking more risks on their journey from river to ocean. It even seems to be messing up their social lives.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a way of chasing down waterborne microplastic particles and catching them for removal, as opposed to just passively filtering them out of water bodies? Well, new "microcleaners" can reportedly do that very thing.

Tea has already been shown to reduce depression, reduce the risk of diabetes, and possibly even extend its drinkers' lifespans. New research now indicates that tea also removes toxic heavy metals from the water in which it's being brewed.

IC engines have long received flack for how wasteful they are. That may soon change, as a team of researchers claims to have discovered the means of converting exhaust heat into energy, using a small device called a thermoelectric generator (TEG).

A decade after it was revealed, London's "super sewer" is now finally complete. The mega-project is expected to revolutionize the handling of waste in the British capital, boosting the capacity of its 150-year-old sewer system significantly.

Methylmercury is an extremely toxic compound, and unfortunately it's often present in the fish that we eat. Scientists are now developing a method of removing it from the environment, utilizing engineered fish and flies that take up the compound and neutralize it.

Filter-feeding mollusks respond to water pollution in a very detectable and measurable manner. With that fact in mind, scientists have created a water-quality-monitoring system that uses electronically augmented live mollusks as its sensors.

Toxic “forever chemicals” are a major environmental problem, and a growing body of research shows they’re also a major health problem. A new study has found people with higher levels of PFAS in their blood have poorer sleep.

While people are becoming concerned about microplastic pollution in their drinking water, it's one of those things that the average person can't check for themselves. That could soon change, however, if a new prototype device reaches production.

The law of unintended consequences gained new appreciation today when a five-year study was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology detailing how long-term exposure to pharmaceutical pollutants can have dramatic consequences for marine wildlife.

Researchers from the University of Missouri have developed a relatively simple and safe method that allows over 98% of nanoplastic particles in water to easily be scraped off the top.

Scientists have developed a new method for removing toxic “forever chemicals” from wastewater. 3D-printed ceramic lattices can remove up to 75% of PFAS from polluted water in three hours – and the structures get better at their job as they’re reused.