Brazil finds new uses of banana peels to purify heavy metal pollutants in water

Bananas are delicious and nutritious, but most people may not know that the banana skin that seems to be “anything” contains some magical functions, such as maintaining leather goods, polishing silverware, and so on. In addition, banana peels can also absorb heavy metal contaminants in water.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil found that chopped banana peels can effectively remove harmful metals such as copper and lead in drinking water. Water purification equipment made of banana peel, even if it is used continuously for 11 times, its characteristics of adsorbing heavy metal pollution are still significant.

Researchers believe that banana peels can play an important role in the field of water purification, because this method is not only environmentally friendly but also more durable than the currently used purification methods.

Affected by the mining and metallurgy industry and industrial and agricultural pollution, the heavy metal content of drinking water in many areas has exceeded the standard, seriously endangering human health. In the past, chemical methods were commonly used to treat heavy metal pollution, that is, adding chemicals and heavy metals to the water to react with them. However, this method is not only costly, but the used chemicals may also be harmful. Therefore, the development of cheap and efficient water purification methods is currently a scientific research problem.

Researchers in the American Chemical Society's publication "Industry and Engineering Chemistry Research" reported that, in addition to banana peel, previous studies have shown that some plant wastes such as coconut shell fiber and peanut shell can also be used as good water purification materials.