Hazardous Waste – PossibleThreat Articles

Turning wood into pharmaceutical ingredients

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Controlled Substances, Diseases and Conditions, Environmental Science, Hazardous Waste, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacology, Recycling and Waste, Water

Production of hazardous waste during drug manufacturing is a serious concern for the pharmaceutical industry. Typically, large amounts of flammable solvents are used during these processes, which usually require several steps to make structurally complex drugs. Researchers now report a method to produce pharmaceutically relevant compounds in just two or three steps, with water as the only waste product, using renewable woodchips as starting material.

News Science

Turning plastic trash into treasure

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Air Quality, Engineering and Construction, Environmental Science, Hazardous Waste, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Organic Chemistry, Recycling and Waste

Researchers have developed a new catalyst that can cleave plastic's strong carbon-carbon, converting it into higher value products.

News Science

A new stable form of plutonium discovered

October 18, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Environmental Science, Hazardous Waste, Nuclear Energy, Physics, Recycling and Waste, Renewable Energy, Weapons Technology

Scientists have found a new compound of plutonium with an unexpected, pentavalent oxidation state. This new phase of plutonium is solid and stable, and may be a transient phase in radioactive waste repositories.

News Science

All plastic waste could become new, high-quality plastic through advanced steam cracking

October 18, 2019 0 Comments Energy and the Environment, Engineering and Construction, Environmental Science, Hazardous Waste, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Petroleum, Recycling and Waste

A research group has developed an efficient process for breaking down any plastic waste to a molecular level. The resulting gases can then be transformed back into new plastics – of the same quality as the original. The new process could transform today's plastic factories into recycling refineries, within the framework of their existing infrastructure.

News Science

Climate change increases risk of mercury contamination

October 16, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Environmental Issues, Environmental Science, Fish, Hazardous Waste, Nature, Organic, Soil Types

As global temperatures continue to rise, the thawing of permafrost is accelerated and mercury trapped in the frozen ground is now being released. The mercury is transforming into more mobile and potentially toxic forms that can lead to environmental and health concerns for wildlife, the fishing industry and people in the Arctic and beyond.

News Science

Liquid metals the secret ingredients to clean up environment

October 11, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Graphene, Hazardous Waste, Inorganic Chemistry, Nature of Water, Oil Spills, Pollution, Water

Liquid metal catalysts show great promise for capturing carbon and cleaning up pollutants, requiring so little energy they can even be created in the kitchen.

News Science

Traffic experts, parents don't always see eye to eye on safe cycling routes for children

October 7, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Hazardous Waste, Poverty and Learning, Resource Shortage, Transportation Issues, Travel and Recreation

Parents often disagree with transportation experts over what streets are safe for children to ride bikes, a new study finds.

News Science

CRISPRed fruit flies mimic monarch butterfly, and could make you vomit

October 2, 2019 0 Comments animals, Ecology, Endangered Plants, Environmental Science, Genetics, Hazardous Waste, Insects (including Butterflies), Rainforests

Monarch butterflies and a few other insects evolved essentially the same genetic mutations allowing them to eat toxic milkweed without getting sick. Monarch butterflies and caterpillars store the toxins to deter predators. Scientists have now used CRISPR gene editing to make these same mutations in fruit flies, successfully conferring toxin resistance. This is the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to eat a new food and employ a new type of deterrence.

News Science

Safe mercury levels in Kotzebue Sound fish

September 28, 2019 0 Comments Cholesterol, Environmental Science, Fish, Fisheries, Hazardous Waste, Nutrition, Oceanography, Vitamin D, Wild Animals

A new analysis of Kotzebue Sound fish has found that mercury levels in a variety of its subsistence species are safe for unrestricted consumption. The study tested 297 subsistence-caught fish. The average mercury levels for each of the eight species were at levels considered safe by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

News Science

Safe solution to mop up oil spills

September 24, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Energy and Resources, Environmental Issues, Hazardous Waste, Nature of Water, Oil Spills, Petroleum, Pollution

Researchers have come up with a new, safe way to clean up oil spills using compounds equally useful as common household cleaning products.

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