2002 CPEO Military List Archive

From: CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>
Date: 17 Jun 2002 14:41:14 -0000
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] CPEO-MEF] Device Turns Contaminants into Harmless Byproducts
 
Device Turns Contaminants into Harmless Byproducts 

EVANSTON, Illinois, June 14, 2002 (ENS) - A new device can render 
perchlorate - a thyroid damaging ingredient of rocket fuel that 
contaminates drinking water in some areas - harmless. 
A Northwestern University environmental engineer has received a U.S. 
patent for the treatment device, which has potential applications that 
extend beyond the safety of drinking water and this one pollutant. 

Bruce Rittmann has patented a hollow fiber membrane biofilm reactor, 
that, through a natural biochemical process of electron transfer, turns 
perchlorate into innocuous chloride. 

The system also works on nitrate, a contaminant from agricultural 
fertilizers that can cause methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, in 
infants. It is expected to work on other oxidized pollutants, such as 
bromate, selenate, heavy metals, radionuclides, and a range of 
chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene, produced by the 
semiconductor industry. 

There is no effective clean up solution for perchlorate, which was 
discovered in the water supplies of many states in the late 1990s. 
Existing methods are also not always successful when dealing with other 
contaminants. 

This article can be viewed in its entirety at: 
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2002/2002-06-14-09.asp#anchor3

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