Carbon nanotubes are helpful for manufacturing but concerning for the environment
February 24, 2021 – Carbon nanotubes are tiny. They can be a hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. But they have huge potential.
Products manufactured using carbon nanotubes include rebar for concrete, sporting goods, wind turbines, and lithium batteries, among others.
Potential uses of carbon nanotubes could extend to diverse fields, such as agriculture, biomedicine and space science.
But as we use more carbon nanotubes to make things, we also increase the chances that these nanotubes enter different environments and ecosystems.
“That makes it important to understand how carbon nanotubes behave in these environments,” says Yu Yang, a member of the Soil Science Society of America.
Measuring carbon nanotubes taken up by plants eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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IMAGE: The edible yam tuber has a starchy, white flesh. Yams are a great source of fiber and potassium. view more
Credit: S. Yamanaka
Yams are a staple food in West Africa, which produces over 90% of the world s yams each year. Yams play a key role in the food security, economic income, and traditional culture for the region.
While they are commonly assumed to be the same as sweet potatoes in the U.S., yams are a completely different plant. The yam tubers are much starchier and drier compared to sweet potatoes. Yams are native to Africa and Asia, and most Americans have never had a true yam.
Some food contamination starts in the soil — Agenparl agenparl.eu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from agenparl.eu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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IMAGE: Rice Investigation, Communication and Education (RICE) Facility at the University of Delaware where the Seyfferth Lab conducts rice experiments in outdoor rice paddies. view more
Credit: Matt Limmer
When most people hear food contamination, they think of bacteria present on unwashed fruits or vegetables, or undercooked meat. However, there are other ways for harmful contaminants to be present in food products.
Angelia Seyfferth, a member of the Soil Science Society of America, investigates food contamination coming from the soil where the plants grow. It all comes down to the chemistry of the soil, explains Seyfferth.
Most recently, Seyfferth has been studying rice. The elements arsenic and cadmium can be present in the paddies where rice is grown. She presented her research at the virtual 2020 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting.