Tree bark can be an alternative to single-use plastic.
Meanwhile a Finnish PhD student has alighted on pine bark as a filter for removing pharmaceutical residues from liquid waste.
Treated wastewater often contains traces of medication such as blood pressure medicine or antidepressants. Antibiotics are particularly problematic as their presence helps pathogens develop resistance.
The female researcher fortified the pine bark with iron oxide and tested the material in a four-month pilot using treated water from a purification plant.
Removal efficiency stood at 99.7% for certain antibiotics and 93.7% for antidepressants. Pine bark is a more cost-effective filtration solution than activated carbon.
Research is underway to produce plant-based antibiotics from lignin. Another priority is filtering out pesticides.
