An Environmental Scientist, Taiwo Bakare-Abidola, has warned that hazardous chemicals in wastewater are worsening the global water crisis.

Bakare-Abidola explained that these pollutants threaten ecosystems, degrade soil and harm aquatic life.

In her publication titled “Enhanced Extraction of Methylene Blue by Dodecyl-Methyl Imidazolium Dodecyl Sulfate GUMBOS – Magnetic Alginate Beads” on Sunday, the Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Southern University, US, emphasised that addressing this issue is crucial for ensuring clean water access worldwide.

She noted that chemicals from pesticides, pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and dyes, especially from the textile industry, are major contributors to water pollution.

“The presence of all these hazardous chemicals in wastewater has detrimental impacts on aquatic life, soil fertility, aquatic resources, and the integrity of ecosystem

Methylene blue is a commonly employed dye for several applications, such as the textile industry and medicine

“Among all the industries, textile industries are the main contributors to the introduction of MB to the environment through wastewater due to the low adhesion to the cloth materials.

“Although the dye is not regarded as particularly toxic, methylene blue has a few negative impacts on humans and animals, causing increased heart rate, nausea, and vomiting,” she said.

Bakare-Abidola added that her research on GUMBOS-based alginate magnetic beads shows promise in removing toxic elements from wastewater.

“The GUMBOS-based alginate magnetic beads fabricated in this work have a great potential as an extractive material for the remediation or cleaning procedure of wastewater or environmental waters,” she added.


https://punchng.com/wastewater-chemicals-worsening-global-water-crisis-environmentalist/