Mar 10, 2011 14:48 GMT  ·  By
Banana peels bind efficiently to copper and lead, removing these chemicals from contaminated water
   Banana peels bind efficiently to copper and lead, removing these chemicals from contaminated water

A research conducted by a group of Brazilian scientists has demonstrated that banana peels can be used successfully as a water purifying method, and that the effectiveness of this method surpasses that of other, more technologically-advanced ones.

Banana peels have lately been used for a wide variety of applications, ranging from polishing silverware and leather shoes to augmenting the natural resistance of leaves on house plants.

But no one knew that they could also be used to clean water that had been previously contaminated with potentially toxic metals, such as lead and copper. The research team says that the peels can indeed be used for this, with impressive results.

For the new investigation, the group used minced banana peels, through which they passed contaminated water. They then compared the quality of the filtered water with that of water cleansed through other purifying methods.

Details of the study have been published in the latest issue of the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, which is edited by the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The work was carried out by experts at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), in Brazil. Researcher Gustavo R. Castro, PhD, from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was the leader of the research group.

At first the scientists looked at the sources that put lead, copper and other heavy metals, into surface and groundwater. They identified farm runoff, industrial waste and mining processes as the main factors causing this type of pollution, Science Blog reports.

These chemicals can lead to at deterioration in public health, as well as to a variety of environmental effects, such as for example the collapse of food webs and the destruction on ecosystems.

Counter-intuitively, some of the chemical elements used to decontaminate waterways today are even more harmful to humans and the environment than the actual pollutants. This is why the new research is so important, analysts argue.

In the UNESP tests, minced banana peels were able to remove copper and lead easily and effectively. A single device containing such peels can be used 11 times without losing its abilities.

The new study, entitled “Banana Peel Applied to the Solid Phase Extraction of Copper and Lead from River Water: Preconcentration of Metal Ions with a Fruit Waste,” was made possible by funding from the São Paulo Research Foundation.