Microplastics are everywhere.
They’re in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and even in the rain that falls from the sky.
There isn’t enough data to really say for sure how these will affect humans long term, but most assume it can’t actually be good, right?
Which is why people are excited about this device that researchers say is really great at filtering them out.
Not only that, but the device is completely plant-based itself.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Sichuan University worked together to develop the “bioCap” purifying filter.
It’s made out of fruit and wood compounds and they claim it eliminates almost all microplastics in water.
It utilizes the tannins in fruit, which are chemicals that made it taste bad when it’s underripe, and coat them in sawdust. This creates a cylindrical water filtration device that eliminates between 95.2%-99.9% of microplastics.
They tested their device by giving groups of mice either untreated water or water that had been purified by the bioCap. The mice who received the treated water showed no accumulation of microplastics in their organs.
The published paper claims that even when it’s working at less efficient levels, it still eliminates a majority of chemicals.
“There are microfibers from clothing, microbeads from cleansers and soaps, and foams and pellets from utensils, containers, and packaging. By taking advantage of the different molecular interactions around tannic acids, our bioCap solution was able to remove virtually all of these different microplastic types.”
Its creators believe this is an ideal solution, as its made of organic materials, won’t lead to further pollution, and can be scaled up or down depending on who needs to use it.
This should give us all hope when it comes to minimizing the amount of plastics we’re ingesting in the future.
At least, it should if we’re paying attention.