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Innovations Top image source: http://www.shef.ac.uk/ chemistry/web- elements/
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Cleaner Water: It's Elementary John Manuel Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that pose a serious health threat if released into the environment, persisting in the environment for long periods of time and possibly contributing to human ailments such as cancer, reproductive failures, and adverse neurological effects. Since the early 1990s, it was known that elemental iron could be used to neutralize VOCs. But investigators, searching for more efficient ways to remediate polluted water and soils, theorized that a bimetallic palladium/iron system might prove to be more effective than iron alone. Scientists in Arizona and Tennessee have developed a methodology using the two metals that quickly and successfully removes VOCs from water and soils, with only relatively harmless biphenyl and chloride ions as by-products. Numerous experiments have pitted different batches of palladized iron containing varying ratios of the two metals against various contaminants. Through these experiments, the scientists quickly and successfully dechlorinated the contaminants in a matter of minutes. The U.S. Department of Energy is currently working on refining the technology for the treatment of polychlorinated biphenyls and solvents at hazardous waste sites. It is too early to know the exact costs of the new system, but insiders predict it will be fully competitive with current technologies.
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