{"id":84292,"date":"2025-10-17T12:34:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/84292\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T12:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:34:31","slug":"were-turning-it-into-a-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/84292\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re turning it into a tool’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of researchers from Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, recently developed<\/a> a shocking new technique to make the most of old plastic bags by transforming them into carbon quantum dots, or CQDs \u2014 glowing nanoparticles that can sense invisible pollutants in water.<\/p>\n

These CQDs typically rely on expensive or hazardous means to produce, but using the plastic shopping bags we often discard \u2014 after just one use \u2014 overcomes that hurdle. The study<\/a>, published in the Carbon Research journal, details the modified pyrolysis and hydrothermal treatment that these scientists applied to convert the polyethylene from plastic bag waste into CQDs.<\/p>\n

The entire process<\/a>, according to EurekAlert, takes fewer than 10 hours, and the resulting CQDs “achieved a quantum yield of 10.4% \u2026 and showed remarkable stability under [the] UV light” that causes them to glow under certain conditions. By binding selectively<\/a> to Fe3+ ions, or ferric ions, in water, the glowing CQDs can highlight metal contamination even at near-imperceptible levels.<\/p>\n

As reported by the United Nations, we generate over 400 million<\/a> metric tons of plastic waste around the world each year, a good half of it from single-use plastics<\/a>. Per the UNDP, less than 10%<\/a> of this waste is actually recycled, leaving the majority to pile up in our landfills or disposed of through otherwise improper methods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When landfills overflow, they release planet-heating gases like methane<\/a> into our atmosphere, as well as other contaminants<\/a> into our soil and groundwater \u2014 all of which, one way or another, may wind up in our bodies. Other plastic remnants often end up in our oceans as microplastics<\/a>, jeopardizing the stability of marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, putting our plastic waste toward water contamination detection can similarly help ensure the security of our public health. Even in trace amounts, metals<\/a> like lead, cadmium, and mercury can leach into our waterways and natural resources, posing a range of health concerns<\/a>, from respiratory and cardiovascular issues to carcinogenic effects when ingested.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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“This is sustainability meeting smart science,” explained<\/a> Dr. Indriana Kartini, the study’s lead researcher. “We’re not just reducing plastic waste \u2014 we’re turning it into a tool for public health.”<\/p>\n

Join our free newsletter<\/a> for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Cool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of researchers from Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, recently developed a shocking new technique to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[138,44943,11959,273,111,139,69,11324,11325,147,64363,11326,11327,1395],"class_list":["post-84292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-business","tag-change-the-way-you-get-rid-of-your-old-stuff","tag-change-the-way-you-hold-corporations-accountable","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-outdoors","tag-plastic","tag-science","tag-support-circular-brands","tag-tech-showcase","tag-waste-conservation-showcase","tag-yahoo-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}