Pine Bark Removes Pharmaceutical Residues From Wastewater—an Affordable Way to Keep Antibiotics Out of Nature

Pine bark removes pharmaceutical residues from wastewater—an affordable way to keep antibiotics out of nature

Researchers at the University of Oulu, Finland, have developed a pine-bark–based water-treatment medium that efficiently removes antibiotics as well as residues of blood-pressure and antidepressant medicines from wastewater treatment plant effluent. A new doctoral thesis reports promising results with a simple and low-cost method in which pine bark was modified with iron.

Forestry-waste pine bark could be used to pull antibiotics out of wastewater

It's a sad fact that antibiotics are constantly entering the environment through the wastewater stream, boosting the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There could soon be a cheap new way of removing those antibiotics from the water, however, using plentiful pine bark.Continue ReadingCategory: Environment, ScienceTags: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Wastewater, University of Oulu, Wood