When old food packaging, discarded children's toys and other mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of plastic also attract bacteria, including those that cause disease.
When old food packaging, discarded children's toys and other mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of plastic also attract bacteria, including those that cause disease. Researchers describe swarms of microscale robots that captured bits of plastic and bacteria from water. Afterward, the bots were decontaminated and reused.
The size of microplastics, which measure 5 millimeters or less, adds another dimension to the plastic pollution problem because animals can eat them, potentially being harmed or passing the particles into the food chain that ends with humans. So far, the health effects for people are not fully understood. However, microplastics themselves aren't the only concern. These pieces attract bacteria, including pathogens, which can also be ingested.
In lab experiments, the team replicated microplastics and bacteria in the environment by adding fluorescent polystyrene beads and actively swimmingbacteria, which can cause pneumonia and other infections, to a water tank. Next, the researchers added microrobots to the tank and exposed them to a rotating magnetic field for 30 minutes, switching it on and off every 10 seconds. A robot concentration of 7.
In recent years, there has been rising concern that tiny particles known as microplastics are showing up basically everywhere on Earth, from polar ice to soil, drinking water and food. Formed when ...
Robotics Research Engineering Nature Of Water Pollution Atmosphere Recycling And Waste Water
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