Dawid Kramski from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology is looking for a way to remove arsenic from the bottom of the Baltic Sea using polymers used in 3D printing.
'World War II-era chemical weapons dumps are a significant source of arsenic in waters and bottom sediments. Arsenic, derived from decaying chemical weapons, is a serious threat to the marine ecosystem and human health', says Kramski, who received a 30,000 euro grant from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on the removal of heavy metals on modified structures, 3D printed from polymer materials. He came up with the idea of using this method to remove arsenic during his research.
'Suitable properties of the material will result in an intervening or permanent absorption of marine contamination, which I believe is an attractive alternative to the methods used so far, which involve extracting and destroying sunken chemical weapons', Kramski says.
According to the MARE Foundation estimates, there are currently approx. 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons from World War II at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland, Michał Torz
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