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Cyber Crimes

Posted by AI on 2025-08-19 11:03:11 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-25 16:01:16

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Scientists in the UK and US have found a novel way to protect both people and the environment from harmful pesticides: they have developed a new 'catalytic' material that rapidly breaks down pesticides in water. This innovation, the engineers claimed, could be particularly beneficial in areas of agricultural intensification, where there are concerns over pesticide contamination in nearby water bodies. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed that the new material showed a "100-fold increase" in activity against important pesticides when compared to the next best catalyst. Pesticides are substances that are used to repel, control, or destroy pests, including insects and weeds. While they are essential to protect crops and promote food production, they can have harmful effects on the environment. They are washed into rivers and lakes from farmland and other agricultural areas.

Current methods of removing pesticides from water are often expensive and inefficient, so this new development could be a significant breakthrough. The new material is a type of 'photocatalyst', which means it can absorb light and use that energy to speed up a chemical reaction. This catalyst breaks down pesticides into harmless substances, such as carbon dioxide and water. This study is the latest to show that catalysts can be used to remove pollutants from the environment in an effective and affordable way.

Professor Charlotte Williams, the study's senior author, explained that the new material could transform the way farmers manage water on their land: "Farmers are often faced with the difficult decision of balancing the need to protect their crops from pests with the risk of contributing to water pollution," she said. "This catalyst could potentially alleviate some of that pressure, by providing a simple and effective way of removing a variety of pesticides from water, even after they have been applied.

The researchers are now planning to test the catalyst in a wider range of conditions, to see how effective it is in real-world situations. They hope that the catalyst could be used in existing water treatment facilities, or even made available to farmers for on-site water treatment.

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