Category: Sustainability

Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight

Douglas Main | the Guardian | Wed 21 Aug 2024 09.00 EDT

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.

Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.

Given the research findings, “it is now imperative to declare a global emergency” to deal with plastic pollution, said Sedat Gündoğdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey.

Humans are exposed to microplastics – defined as fragments smaller than 5mm in diameter – and the chemicals used to make plastics from widespread plastic pollution in air, water and even food.

There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with

Matthew Campen, University of New Mexico

The health hazards of microplastics within the human body are not yet well-known. Recent studies are just beginning to suggest they could increase the risk of various conditions such as oxidative stress, which can lead to cell damage and inflammation, as well as cardiovascular disease.

Animal studies have also linked microplastics to fertility issues, various cancers, a disrupted endocrine and immune system, and impaired learning and memory.

There are currently no governmental standards for plastic particles in food or water in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on crafting guidelines for measuring them, and has been giving out grants since 2018 to develop new ways to quickly detect and quantify them.

Finding microplastics in more and more human organs “raises a lot of concerns”, given what we know about health effects in animals, studies of human cells in the lab, and emerging epidemiological studies, said Bethanie Carney Almroth, an ecotoxicologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. “It’s scary, I’d say.”

‘Pretty alarming’

In one of the latest studies to emerge – a pre-print paper still undergoing peer review that is posted online by the National Institutes of Health – researchers found a particularly concerning accumulation of microplastics in brain samples.

An examination of the livers, kidneys and brains of autopsied bodies found that all contained microplastics, but the 91 brain samples contained on average about 10 to 20 times more than the other organs. The results came as a shock, according to the study’s lead author Matthew Campen, a toxicologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico.

The researchers found that 24 of the brain samples, which were collected in early 2024, measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight.

“It’s pretty alarming,” Campen said. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.”

The study describes the brain as “one of the most plastic-polluted tissues yet sampled”.

The pre-print brain study led by Campen also hinted at a concerning link. In the study, researchers looked at 12 brain samples from people who had died with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. These brains contained up to 10 times more plastic by weight than healthy samples. (The latest version of Campen’s study, which contains these findings, was not yet posted online when this story was published.)

“I don’t know how much more plastic our brain can stuff in without it causing some problems,” Campen said.

The paper also found the quantity of microplastics in brain samples from 2024 was about 50% higher from the total in samples that date to 2016, suggesting the concentration of microplastics found in human brains is rising at a similar rate to that found in the environment. Most of the organs came from the office of the medical investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which investigates untimely or violent deaths.

“You can draw a line – it’s increasing over time. It’s consistent with what you’re seeing in the environment,” Campen said.

Many other papers have found microplastics in the brains of other animal species, so it’s not entirely surprising the same could be true for humans, said Almroth of the University of Gothenburg, who was not involved in the paper.

When it comes to these insidious particles, “the blood-brain barrier is not as protective as we’d like to think”, Almroth said, referring to the series of membranes that keep many chemicals and pathogens from reaching the central nervous system.

Explosion of research

Adding to the concerns about accumulation in the human body, the Journal of Hazardous Materials published a study last month that found microplastics in all 16 samples of bone marrow examined, the first paper of its kind. All the samples contained polystyrene, used to make packing for peanuts and electronics, and almost all contained polyethylene, used in clear food wrap, detergent bottles and other common household products.

Another recent paper looking at 45 patients undergoing hip or knee surgery in Beijing, China, found microplastics in the membranous lining of every single hip or knee joint examined.

A study published on 15 May in the journal Toxicological Sciences found microplastics in all 23 human and 47 canine testicles studied, finding that samples from people had a nearly threefold greater concentration than those from dogs. A higher quantity of certain types of plastic particles – including polyethylene, the main component of plastic water bottles – correlated with lower testicular weights in dogs.

Another paper, which appeared on 19 June in the International Journal of Impotence Research, detected plastic particles in the penises of four out of five men getting penile implants to treat erectile dysfunction.

“The potential health effects are concerning, especially considering the unknown long-term consequences of microplastics accumulating in sensitive tissues like the reproductive organs,” said Ranjith Ramasamy, the study’s lead author and a medical researcher and urologist at the University of Miami.

Meanwhile, a Chinese group published a study in May showing small quantities of microplastics in the semen of all 40 participants. An Italian paper from a few months prior reported similar results.

A handful of studies have also now found contamination in human placentas. A study that appeared in the May issue of Toxicological Sciences reported finding micro- and nanoplastics in all 62 placental samples, though the concentration ranged widely.

In Italy, researchers followed 312 patients who had fatty deposits, or plaques, removed from their carotid artery. Almost six in 10 had microplastics, and these people fared worse than those who did not: Over the next 34 months, they were 2.1 times as likely to experience a heart attack or stroke, or die.

‘Nowhere left untouched’

The Food and Drug Administration says in a statement on its website that “current scientific evidence does not demonstrate that levels of microplastics or nanoplastics detected in foods pose a risk to human health.”

Still, researchers say that individuals should try to reduce their exposure by avoiding the use of plastic in preparing food, especially when microwaving; drinking tap water instead of bottled water; and trying to prevent the accumulation of dust, which is contaminated with plastics. Some researchers advise eating less meat, especially processed products.

Leonardo Trasande, a medical researcher at New York University, said much remains unknown about the impacts of microplastic accumulation in humans. The negative health impacts of chemicals used in plastics, such as phthalates, are better established, though, he said. A study he co-authored found exposure to phthalates had increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in the United States, causing $39bn or more in lost productivity per year.

Microplastic particles can be contaminated with and carry such chemicals into the body. “The micro- and nanoplastics may be effective delivery systems for toxic chemicals,” Trasande said.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic and chemical manufacturers, did not directly respond to questions about the recent studies finding microplastics in human organs. Kimberly Wise White, a vice-president with the group, noted that “the global plastics industry is dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of microplastics”.

The United Nations Environment Assembly agreed two years ago to begin working toward a global treaty to end plastic pollution, a process that is ongoing.

Several news reports in the last week suggest that the Biden administration has signaled that the US delegation involved in the discussions will support measures to reduce global production of plastics, which researchers say is critical to getting a handle on the problem.

“There’s nowhere left untouched from the deep sea to the atmosphere to the human brain,” Almroth said.

This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group

ICS/OTKansas Water Facility Switches to Manual Operations Following Cyberattack
Ransomware possibly involved in a cybersecurity incident at Arkansas City’s water treatment facility.

ByIonut Arghire | Security Week | September 24, 2024

Arkansas City, a small city in Kansas, says its water treatment facility was forced to switch to manual operations while a cybersecurity incident is being resolved.

The incident, described by local media as a cyberattack, was discovered on the morning of September 22 and led to precautionary measures being taken “to ensure plant operations remained secure”, the city announced in an incident notice.

According to city manager Randy Frazer, the water supply has not been affected and the incident has not caused disruption to service.

“Despite the incident, the water supply remains completely safe, and there has been no disruption to service. Out of caution, the water treatment facility has switched to manual operations while the situation is being resolved,” Frazer said.

He also noted that the city has full control of the situation and reassured residents that the drinking water is safe.

Arkansas City says it has notified the relevant authorities of the incident and that they are working with cybersecurity experts to address the issue and return the facility’s operations to normal.

“Enhanced security measures are currently in place to protect the water supply, and no changes to water quality or service are expected for residents,” the city said.

While the city’s notification does not share further details on the incident, it appears that the water treatment plant might have fallen victim to a ransomware attack.

Switching to manual operations suggests that systems were shut down to contain the attack, which is the typical response to incidents involving ransomware.

SecurityWeek has emailed Arkansas City for additional information on the incident and will update this article as soon as a reply arrives.

It’s not uncommon for US water facilities to be targeted by threat actors and the government has been taking steps to increase the water sector’s resilience to cyberattacks. 

Because it doesn’t need expensive energy storage for times without sunshine, the technology could provide communities with drinking water at low costs.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News | October 8, 2024

Caption:

Jon Bessette sits atop a trailer housing the electrodialysis desalination system at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility (BGNDRF) in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The system is connected to real groundwater, water tanks, and solar panels.

Credits:

Photo: Shane Pratt

Caption:

(Left to right): Jon Bessette, Shane Pratt, and Muriel McWhinnie (UROP) stand in front of the electrodialysis desalination system during an installation in July.

Credits:

Photo: Shane Pratt

Caption:

In a direct-drive electrodialysis desalination system, using flow-commanded current control, solar panels take in energy from the sun and then optimally allocate energy (shown in yellow) to the pump and electrodialysis stack, without the need for energy storage, such as batteries. Saline feed water flows through the pump into the electrodialysis stack, where it is desalinated and split into a drinking water stream (light blue) and a concentrated brine stream (dark blue).

Credits:

Credit: Jonathan Bessette

MIT engineers have built a new desalination system that runs with the rhythms of the sun.

The solar-powered system removes salt from water at a pace that closely follows changes in solar energy. As sunlight increases through the day, the system ramps up its desalting process and automatically adjusts to any sudden variation in sunlight, for example by dialing down in response to a passing cloud or revving up as the skies clear.

Because the system can quickly react to subtle changes in sunlight, it maximizes the utility of solar energy, producing large quantities of clean water despite variations in sunlight throughout the day. In contrast to other solar-driven desalination designs, the MIT system requires no extra batteries for energy storage, nor a supplemental power supply, such as from the grid.

The engineers tested a community-scale prototype on groundwater wells in New Mexico over six months, working in variable weather conditions and water types. The system harnessed on average over 94 percent of the electrical energy generated from the system’s solar panels to produce up to 5,000 liters of water per day despite large swings in weather and available sunlight.

“Conventional desalination technologies require steady power and need battery storage to smooth out a variable power source like solar. By continually varying power consumption in sync with the sun, our technology directly and efficiently uses solar power to make water,” says Amos Winter, the Germeshausen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center at MIT. “Being able to make drinking water with renewables, without requiring battery storage, is a massive grand challenge. And we’ve done it.”

The system is geared toward desalinating brackish groundwater — a salty source of water that is found in underground reservoirs and is more prevalent than fresh groundwater resources. The researchers see brackish groundwater as a huge untapped source of potential drinking water, particularly as reserves of fresh water are stressed in parts of the world. They envision that the new renewable, battery-free system could provide much-needed drinking water at low costs, especially for inland communities where access to seawater and grid power are limited.

“The majority of the population actually lives far enough from the coast, that seawater desalination could never reach them. They consequently rely heavily on groundwater, especially in remote, low-income regions. And unfortunately, this groundwater is becoming more and more saline due to climate change,” says Jonathan Bessette, MIT PhD student in mechanical engineering. “This technology could bring sustainable, affordable clean water to underreached places around the world.”

The researchers report details the new system in a paper appearing today in Nature Water. The study’s co-authors are Bessette, Winter, and staff engineer Shane Pratt.

Pump and flow

The new system builds on a previous design, which Winter and his colleagues, including former MIT postdoc Wei He, reported earlier this year. That system aimed to desalinate water through “flexible batch electrodialysis.”

Electrodialysis and reverse osmosis are two of the main methods used to desalinate brackish groundwater. With reverse osmosis, pressure is used to pump salty water through a membrane and filter out salts. Electrodialysis uses an electric field to draw out salt ions as water is pumped through a stack of ion-exchange membranes.

Scientists have looked to power both methods with renewable sources. But this has been especially challenging for reverse osmosis systems, which traditionally run at a steady power level that’s incompatible with naturally variable energy sources such as the sun.

Winter, He, and their colleagues focused on electrodialysis, seeking ways to make a more flexible, “time-variant” system that would be responsive to variations in renewable, solar power.

In their previous design, the team built an electrodialysis system consisting of water pumps, an ion-exchange membrane stack, and a solar panel array. The innovation in this system was a model-based control system that used sensor readings from every part of the system to predict the optimal rate at which to pump water through the stack and the voltage that should be applied to the stack to maximize the amount of salt drawn out of the water.

When the team tested this system in the field, it was able to vary its water production with the sun’s natural variations. On average, the system directly used 77 percent of the available electrical energy produced by the solar panels, which the team estimated was 91 percent more than traditionally designed solar-powered electrodialysis systems.

Still, the researchers felt they could do better.

“We could only calculate every three minutes, and in that time, a cloud could literally come by and block the sun,” Winter says. “The system could be saying, ‘I need to run at this high power.’ But some of that power has suddenly dropped because there’s now less sunlight. So, we had to make up that power with extra batteries.”

Solar commands

In their latest work, the researchers looked to eliminate the need for batteries, by shaving the system’s response time to a fraction of a second. The new system is able to update its desalination rate, three to five times per second. The faster response time enables the system to adjust to changes in sunlight throughout the day, without having to make up any lag in power with additional power supplies.

The key to the nimbler desalting is a simpler control strategy, devised by Bessette and Pratt. The new strategy is one of “flow-commanded current control,” in which the system first senses the amount of solar power that is being produced by the system’s solar panels. If the panels are generating more power than the system is using, the controller automatically “commands” the system to dial up its pumping, pushing more water through the electrodialysis stacks. Simultaneously, the system diverts some of the additional solar power by increasing the electrical current delivered to the stack, to drive more salt out of the faster-flowing water.

“Let’s say the sun is rising every few seconds,” Winter explains. “So, three times a second, we’re looking at the solar panels and saying, ‘Oh, we have more power — let’s bump up our flow rate and current a little bit.’ When we look again and see there’s still more excess power, we’ll up it again. As we do that, we’re able to closely match our consumed power with available solar power really accurately, throughout the day. And the quicker we loop this, the less battery buffering we need.”

The engineers incorporated the new control strategy into a fully automated system that they sized to desalinate brackish groundwater at a daily volume that would be enough to supply a small community of about 3,000 people. They operated the system for six months on several wells at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Throughout the trial, the prototype operated under a wide range of solar conditions, harnessing over 94 percent of the solar panel’s electrical energy, on average, to directly power desalination.

“Compared to how you would traditionally design a solar desal system, we cut our required battery capacity by almost 100 percent,” Winter says.

The engineers plan to further test and scale up the system in hopes of supplying larger communities, and even whole municipalities, with low-cost, fully sun-driven drinking water.

“While this is a major step forward, we’re still working diligently to continue developing lower cost, more sustainable desalination methods,” Bessette says.

“Our focus now is on testing, maximizing reliability, and building out a product line that can provide desalinated water using renewables to multiple markets around the world,” Pratt adds.

The team will be launching a company based on their technology in the coming months.

This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the Julia Burke Foundation, and the MIT Morningside Academy of Design. This work was additionally supported in-kind by Veolia Water Technologies and Solutions and Xylem Goulds. 

Jackery’s new solar roof is almost indistinguishable from a regular roof. Is it better than solar panels?

Ajay Kumar | CNET | Article updated on January 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM PST

Solar shingles or solar roofs are an attractive option for many homeowners because they allow you to get solar power without the bulky and unsightly solar panels. Other models on the market include the Tesla Solar Roof, which CNET has reviewed, Luma, Timberline and others.

The latest addition to the market comes from Jackery. Unveiled at CES 2025, its new solar roof stands out (or rather, it doesn’t) because it’s almost indistinguishable from a regular roof. With curved roof tile panels that come with a dark obsidian and terra-cotta options (more to follow), the Jackery Solar Roof can be added on top of your existing roof tiles, blending into the rest of your architecture. Each roof tile weighs about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms).

Jackery says its solar roof has a 25% cell conversion efficiency, putting it on the high end of solar panel efficiency. Lab testing on the Maxeon 7, the best currently on the market, shows 24.9% cell conversion efficiency and real-world efficiency at 24.1%. If the Jackery solar roof can actually hit 25% in real-world usage, that’s an impressive feat, and it would make it one of the most efficient solar cells on the market.

In terms of other specs, the rooftop system can generate 170 watts per square meter, with each tile 38W. The tiles come with a 30-year warranty and they’re designed to handle extreme weather conditions, including hail and high winds, along with temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. The Solar Roof is expected to cost $7,000 to $20,000 on average, with installation costs estimated at $5,000 to $7,000 in the US. Jackery hasn’t revealed when exactly the solar roof will be ready for sale yet, but expect it to be released sometime in 2025.

Jackery says the solar roof is compatible with smart energy management systems, Jackery’s own solar generators and battery systems like the Jackery 5000 Plus and the HomePower EnergySystem the company is launching later this year. The HomePower is particularly interesting because it’s a modular energy system that can be scaled up with stacks ranging from 7.7 kilowatt-hours to 15.4kWh. You can get a total system capacity of 123.2kWh per inverter. The setup consists of battery units, a hybrid inverter that can operate on or off-grid and a hub to manage loads.

Also revealed at CES, Jackery has the new Solar Generator 5000 Plus kit and Solar Generator 3000v2. The 5000 Plus is a larger LFP system that can deliver up to 14,400W of power with two units paired with the Jackery Smart Transfer Switch. With all the modular extensions, the full ecosystem can reach 60kWh.

Jackery says the 3000v2 is the smallest and lightest solar generator and power station, with a 3600W output and 0 millisecond UPS switchover functionality. It hooks up to solar panels to keep devices and appliances running during a blackout and it’s resistant to bumpy roads, dust and temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit. It should be available later this year. It’s expected to cost $2,499.

https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/jackery-new-solar-roof-tile-debuts-at-ces-2025-looks-just-like-a-regular-roof/

Madeleine Cuff | New Scientist | 1 July 2024

US company Source, which makes solar panels that produce drinking water from moisture in the air, plans to launch a canned water brand called Sky Wtr later this year

Canned water distilled from the air will be available to buy in the US later this year, in an effort to promote solar-powered “hydropanels” that provide an off-grid method of producing drinking water.

The panels, created by Arizona-based firm Source, use solar energy to power fans, which draw water vapour from the air. A water-absorbing substance, known as a desiccant, traps the moisture, before solar energy from the panel releases the moisture into a collection area within the panel.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2437672-canned-water-made-from-air-and-sunlight-to-hit-us-stores-in-september

Nina Lakhani in New Orleans | the Guardian | Thu 16 Nov 2023 06.00 EST

After Hurricanes Katrina and Ida, a city initiative is building solar-driven disaster response hubs to increase its resilience

Like many community-based solutions, the community lighthouse network in New Orleans can be traced back to a crisis moment when people realised that something had to change and they – not elected officials – would have to make it happen.

“For [Hurricane] Ida we were ready with showers, mattresses, shelter and food, but once again the electricity was out so we couldn’t serve our community,” said Antoine Barriere, a 61-year-old pastor. “The power was the missing piece.

“We realised that we had to stop waiting for a fix and do it ourselves. We need to get off the grid and be self-sufficient, as with climate change we’re going to get more disasters.”

In late August 2021, several faith leaders were on a Zoom call during yet another citywide blackout which left vulnerable residents struggling to cope with extreme heat and humidity. The power lines had been knocked out by Hurricane Ida, a category 4 Atlantic storm that had made landfall on 29 August, exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina.

Ida left some parts of New Orleans in the dark for 10 days and overwhelmed the city’s emergency response efforts. But a couple of months earlier a new network had been launched called Together New Orleans (TNO), which included churches, mosques, synagogues, unions and environmental nonprofits whose leaders are working across historical racial and religious divides to build collective political power and challenge longstanding anti-sustainable pro-business policies.

The fix, they decided, would be the community lighthouse network, solar-powered disaster response hubs that could transform the city’s approach to resilience for climate and other natural disasters.

On a bright, balmy autumn morning a couple of weeks ago Barriere climbed a long, steep ladder to show me the 460 solar panels that now cover a third or so of his church’s flat roof.

The solar panels were generating more than enough energy to power Household of Faith, a non-denominational megachurch with 4,000 mostly Black parishioners in New Orleans East. Downstairs, a cabinet was stacked with backup batteries that were fully charged in case of a power outage – a frequent occurrence thanks to the low-lying city’s vulnerability to hurricanes, thunderstorms, high winds, extreme heat and flooding.

In a worst-case scenario – no sun, thundery dark skies and power outage – the backup batteries could power essential appliances for a couple of days including the water heater, five commercial fridge freezers storing perishables for the weekly food pantry, and air conditioning for the vast main hall which could be converted into a dormitory-style shelter.

But on this brilliant cloudless morning, most of the solar-generated energy was going into the city’s electric grid. New Orleans’ one-for-one net metering scheme allows the church to offset its excess clean energy against the utility’s dirty energy, and this should become a net zero facility within 12 months.

Household of Faith is among seven, and so far the largest, community lighthouse, but TNO has ambitions to build dozens more and is working with sister networks statewide.

The idea is that each community lighthouse should be an institution locals already know and trust – such as a place of worship, health clinic or community centre – that can be converted into a resilience hub where people can converge during a power outage to get cool, recharge phones, have a meal, connect to a medical device or store medication that requires refrigeration such as insulin.

In addition, community lighthouses will be able to keep the services running that people rely on such as the food pantry and religious sermons, while also adding capacity to the city’s wider emergency-response efforts as a distribution hub, shelter and possibly even house a makeshift clinic.

A couple of weeks before my visit, a run-of-the-mill storm took out some power lines, causing an outage during the church’s weekly bible study class.

“We just kept going, the power just switched to the batteries,” said Barriere. “The grid is going to keep going down while the sun will always come up. And even when it’s cloudy, we’re still generating some – and saving money.”

It was the first time the system was tested for real, outside a disaster simulation exercise, and while it was only a couple of hours, people were relieved to see that it worked.

At bible study that night was the 68-year-old parishioner Linda Thomas, who spends most of her day attached to an oxygen tank due to chronic lung damage caused by an autoimmune disease. She is mobile but frail, while her husband takes intravenous medication for congestive heart failure which must be kept refrigerated. They managed to stay at home after Ida, using a small generator and portable oxygen tanks until the power was restored on their street on the fourth day. But any longer, and they would have had to evacuate.

Thomas said: “Moving in an emergency is very stressful and hard physically, so it’s absolutely great that our church has solar because there is no place like home.”

Economically, it works too. Household of Faith’s electricity bill, after taking into account maintenance and insurance costs and the monthly solar service charge to pay TNO back for the upfront material and installation, is expected to drop by 20-30%, according to Pierre Moses, the project’s technical expert.

The city faces power outages that are not just triggered by storms such as Ida, and it’s much worse for low-income neighbourhoods where local people are mainly Black, Latin and Asian. On top of this, the climate crisis is exacerbating other extreme weather events such as record-breaking heat and humidity.

Residents agree that it is a matter of when the next major hurricane strikes, not if.

“We need to be up and running by the next hurricane season,” said Sonya Norsworthy, the Household of Faith community lighthouse coordinator.

The next step is to recruit and train volunteers and begin mapping the vulnerable residents within a mile-and-a-half radius of the lighthouse. Volunteers will contact them before an incoming storm or tornado, and then again within 24 hours of an outage, as part of the project’s post-disaster response plan.

The end goal is to build a lighthouse within 15 minutes walking distance of all 375,000 city residents – and hundreds more across the state. They are hopeful about the next wave after recently helping the state win a $259m (£208m) federal grant to improve grid resilience.

“After Ida hit, there was an overwhelming frustration and feeling powerless,” said Abel Thompson, a TNO organiser. “That’s when people switched from asking when will they [solve this] to why not us? And we can solve this.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/16/we-needed-to-get-off-the-grid-new-orleans-responds-to-its-crises-with-community-lighthouses