WEST NYACK, N.Y., April 2 (UPI) -- U.S. engineers have developed a chemical technology that can nip pollution in the bud by neutralizing toxic metals as they leak into soils and water.
The novel technique, called smart wastes, could affect "a huge variety of sectors," consultant Peter Hurley of Blake International in West Yorkshire, England, told United Press International.
The technology's developer, Solucorp Industries, used sulfide-based solutions to bind chemically to heavy metals, a process that renders pollutants such as lead, chromium, mercury or cadmium both insoluble and non-hazardous.
"Instead of just treating pollution already affecting the environment, we're now preventing contamination from occurring from anything metal or anything that discharges metals," said Noel Spindler, director of technology for Solucorp.
"If you think about the things in your house that can be potentially polluting and should realistically be treated prior to disposal -- the battery inside your mobile phone or your computer or your car, electronic camera, personal organizer, the personal organizer itself -- if their design accommodated the possibility of pollution, you can take the lowest cost option and treat the pollution itself instead of the land around it," he said.
