Iranian researchers at Shaheed Beheshti University designed Nano-absorbent separating chemical pollutants by high percentage.
Sarah Karimi Behzad, a mineral chemistry student at the university and lead author of the study, said that the Nano-absorbent is separated from the environment in less than a second and can be reused, the Iranian students' news agency reported.
The outcomes of the study can be adopted in different industries, including water and wastewater treatment.
Heavy metals including lead and cadmium are not removed from the body and deposit in tissues such as fat, muscles, bones and joints, leading to different diseases. The issue also raises probability of neural disorders such as parkinson's, alzheimer's, depression, schizophrenia, cancer.
The study is focusing on use of magnetic nano-particles to concentrate and adsorb the pollutants.
She further added that the research is also measuring the lead and cadmium ion in certain food by solid phase extraction method, adding the synthesized nano-combination showed high capability in concentration and absorption of pollutants (roughly 90 percent).
The method enjoys certain advantages including simplicity, high speed in separating and determining metal ions in natural samples.
The results of the study also appeared in Microchimica Acta Journal.