Researchers from Rice University in the U.S. have developed a method for removing arsenic from drinking water using magnetic nanoparticles, an innovation which the article says “could have major health implications in developing countries”. Researcher Vicki Colvin said that existing methods to treat arsenic contamination require “extensive hardware and high-pressure pumps that run on electricity,” while the new method requires neither. The article says that the method involves suspending pure samples of rust in water, where they bind with arsenic, and then pulling them out with a magnetic field. Colvin said that the nanoparticles are currently expensive, but that the researchers are working on developing methods to produce them on a kitchen stove using rust and olive oil.
