Environmental Chemistry Blog 2026

By Gabriella Clark Journal Article: Removal of Microplastics from Drinking Water by Moringa oleifera Seed: Comparative Performance with Alum in Direct and in-Line Filtration Systems | ACS Omega | ACS Publications  News Article: Moringa tree: This ‘miracle’ plant can filter more than 98% of microplastics from tap water | CNN  Background Information      Microplastics in drinking water have been a growing concern due to their ability to penetrate different water treatment systems and their potential adverse health effects, many of which have yet to be fully researched and understood. Microplastics, also known by the shorthand MPs, ranging from 0.1 um to 5 mm in size have been routinely detected in drinking water sources, despite efforts to reduce their presence.      Conventional drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) are able to remove between 40-70% of MPs, with varying success depending on the method used. Incomplete removal has been documented ...

 By Jackson Sweet Popular Article:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/15/pesticides-shorten-fish-lifespan-study Journal Article:  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4727 Background:     Pesticides are a group of chemical compounds commonly used in agricultural settings to kill or remove pests. While useful for the protection of human food supplies, groundwater leeching, runoff, and improper disposal can lead to the accumulation of pesticides in water sources.1 One of these common pesticides, chlorpyrifos, has been banned in the UK and the EU but is still available for use on farms in China and the United States. Studies into pesticide exposure in humans and wildlife are limited, and the lethal effects of long-term exposure to small doses of pesticides are widely unexplored. To remedy this, researchers at the University of Notre Dame combined field sampling with laboratory studies to understand the effects of pesticides on wildlife duri...

By Abigail Kleiman News Article:  https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/climate/forever-chemicals-pfas-drinking-water-drugs-wellness Journal Article:  https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2417156122 Background Information     PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are commonly known as 'forever chemicals'. These substances are named as such because of their ability to remain in human bodies and the environment for a long time without decomposing. PFAS have long been used in consumer products, specifically because of their resistance to oil, grease, heat, and water. Despite their usefulness in the manufacturing world, PFAS have also been linked to a variety of troubling health conditions such as infertility, cancer, and thyroid issues.       One concern is that PFAS have been found in various drinking sources throughout the United States.  Research suggests that nearly half of the drinking water in the US is contaminated (though not enti...

Carbon emissions from oil giants directly linked to dozens of deadly heatwaves for first time By: Joseph Keane News Article:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/10/link-oil-giants-heatwaves-research-legal-liability?utm_source=chatgpt.com Journal Article:  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09450-9   Background:       CO2 and CH4 are major greenhouse gases, that have a significant and documented impact on climate change, and the burning of all kinds of fossil fuels is a major contributor to emissions of these gases. Climate change itself is a major contributor to extreme weather events like heatwaves. Carbon majors are large fossil fuel producers whose business activities substantially contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon majors are divided into three primary categories: privately owned companies (ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron), state-owned companies (Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, Coal India), and nation-state producers (former...

By Cora Scott News Article Journal Article Background Hydrogen gas has been an increasingly popular energy source meant to serve as an alternative to currently widely used energy sources, particularly fossil fuels. Unlike coal, oil, and natural gas, hydrogen can be used to generate electricity through fuel cells, producing water as a primary byproduct rather than carbon dioxide. Hydrogen has particularly been investigated as a replacement energy source for methods of heavy transportation (aviation and shipping), steel and chemical manufacturing, long-term energy storage, and certain industrial heating applications. Despite this process producing less toxic byproducts, the problem with hydrogen as an energy source is that its merely an energy carrier, not a primary source, meaning that it must first be produced utilizing another energy source. For instance, green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis via renewable energy (solar or wind power), blue hydrogen is produced throu...

 By Madison Sweet News Article Journal Article Background      In recent years, European governments have begun to consider financial support for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). BECCS is a climate technology that generates energy from organic matter, such as wood pellets and agricultural waste, while capturing carbon dioxide (CO2). This process involves harvesting and burning biomass to produce energy. At the same time, it captures and stores the CO2 released underground, aiming for negative emissions. Many climate models envision BECCS using specially grown, high-yield “energy crops.” However, several governments are now considering funding programs for BECCS technologies that source instead from existing forests.  Journal Article      In a Nature Sustainability article published in April 2026, Searchinger et al. developed an Excel-based model, BECCS-WOOD, to better understand the environmental and economic implications of usin...