Though there are many #heavymetals that #coalmining can release to our #freshwater, #selenium has been noted as a particularly risky #pollutant as it bioaccumulates in the #environment reaching toxic levels for #fish, #animals living in riparian areas, and potentially in agricultural #soils and #plants grown in them. This is a risk not only to human #health and the health of aquatic #ecosystems, but also risks the reputation of our regional agricultural products.
9/14
Test of 31 #Shein items found 25 (81%) exceeded #EU REACH limits.
High levels of #phthalates (in 18/22 items, up to 70× limit), #PFAS (9/11 items, up to 3,115×), and #HeavyMetals (cadmium up to 126 mg/kg, lead up to 2,110 mg/kg).
Risks: skin contact, ingestion (children), environmental contamination.
Shein says it removes flagged items; @greenpeace calls for stricter enforcement and platform liability.
#GoldExtraction from #EWaste gets 10 times more efficient with new sponge material
Researchers developed a nanoscale cross-dimensional composite material via self-assembly of two-dimensional graphene oxide and one-dimensional chitosan macromolecules.
By Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Oct 27, 2024
"Researchers have developed a new type of material that’s 10 times more efficient at extracting gold from e-waste than previous adsorbents. Developed by chemists and materials scientists at the National University of Singapore, the material is a type of sponge made of #GrapheneOxide and #chitosan [shrimp shells].
"The material can reportedly transform the way gold is extracted from electronic wastes, which has been described so far as a dirty business with low yields and results in toxic #pollutants.
"The cheaper, cleaner and efficient method was tested by researchers using real e-waste provided by a recycling company."
[...]
"While the present work focused on gold, the team say the technique could be adapted to recover other valuable metals such as #silver, #platinum or #palladium from #ElectronicWaste or even #mining residues. And that is not all: as well as e-waste, the technology might be applied to a wider range of environmental cleaning efforts, such as filtering out #HeavyMetals from #PollutedWater sources or industrial effluents, reported Physics World."
Read more:
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/gold-extraction-from-e-waste-sponge
Article in Physics World - Eco-friendly graphene composite recovers gold from e-waste
24 Oct 2024
https://physicsworld.com/a/eco-friendly-graphene-composite-recovers-gold-from-e-waste/
#SolarPunkSunday #NoGoldMining
#EWasteRecycling #MetalsExtraction #Electronics #RareEarthMinerals #Recycling #NewTechnology #ShrimpShells
Taiwan authorities found excessive levels of the heavy metal cadmium in black sesame seeds imported from China.
#Taiwan #Asian #Food #Contaminated #Toxic #Trade #Sesame #Cadmium #HeavyMetals #FoodSafety
Taiwan has blocked 1,000 kilograms of black sesame seeds imported from China after tests found excessive levels of the heavy metal cadmium, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday.
The #EPA on Friday weakened #pollution limits for #coal burning power plants, allowing them to release more #HeavyMetals including #mercury, a powerful #neurotoxin linked to #BrainDamage.
The move was one of many efforts by the #Trump admin to revive the declining US coal industry, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that burning coal is harming #PublicHealth & driving dangerous levels of #GlobalWarming. Coal is the dirtiest of the #FossilFuels.
#law #ClimateChange
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/climate/epa-mercury-coal-plants.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Timothy Schwinghamer (he/him)
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CBC Technology Science
All Scientifical
CBC Nova Scotia
DoomsdaysCW
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