Cilantro is quite the versatile plant. Not only can it kick up your salsa, but it shows promise as an inexpensive method of removing toxic heavy metals (such as lead) in contaminated water. In fact, research conducted by Ivy Community College undergraduates under the direction of Douglas Schauer, PhD. with scientists at the Universidad Politécnica de Francisco I. Madero in Hidalgo revealed —although small scale—cilantro could be more effective than traditional carbon filtration.
Mexico does not have a filtration system for heavy metals water pollution, and cilantro grows wild in the country.
How Does Cilantro Clean the Water?
According to Schauer, the outer wall of the microscopic cells that make up the plant are ideal for absorption of heavy metals. In fact, parsley has similar features and could also act as a biosorbent.
Expensive or Inexpensive Method
Growing cilantro arguably isn’t a cost effective solution. Schauer notes in certain countries like Mexico where the water contains heavy metal pollution, it grows wild. Thus, harvesting cilantro makes it a cheaper solution than activated carbon used in home water purification filters or advanced technologies such as ion-exchange resins.
“Our goal is to find biosorbents that people in developing countries could obtain for nothing,” Schauer explained. “When the filter in a water purification pitcher needs to be changed, they could go outside, gather a handful of cilantro or some other plant, and presto, there’s a new filter ready to purify the water.”
The Future?
The key to an invention is scaling it for practical use. Currently, his team is in the process of creating practical devices such a tea bag-like packets, reusable water filter cartridges and other devices to remove heavy metals inexpensively.
In addition, he will be studying whether cilantro can remove arsenic from water as well. Arsenic in water has been linked to cancer, development delays, diabetes and weakened immune system.
Questions I still had:
- Could coriander seed (cilantro seed) accomplish the same heavy metal removal?
- Could cilantro remove heavy metals from the soil?
- Could cilantro remove arsenic from water?
As Schauer’s team continued their research, hopefully, the above questions will be answered.
Source: Phsy.org
Similar Posts:
- Contech Stormwater Solutions Reduce Pollutants and CO2
- Green News for 3.7.11: Cadmium in Rice, Thin Cell PVs, Bottle Water
- Recycle Scrap Metal: Make Money and Be Kinder to the Earth.
- Wild Garlic: Foraging in Your Backyard for Chive Like Onions
- Eggless Tofu Salad for Meatless Monday. Lunch Will Never Be the Same
Interesting! Yet another miracle of nature. Hopefully more research can be done on this, thanks for sharing.
Kat, absolutely. If we just looked to nature rather than live through chemicals, we would be better off. Anna
It would be wonderful if cilantro could remove metals from water and soil. Nature does supply us with the natural resources if we only take the time to find them. I truly hope that more research is done on this very soon. Thanks for sharing this in information.
Marla, I asked that question–if it could remove metals from the soil. Douglas said he thought there were studies about this but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Anna
Question: does the cilantro absorb any of the metals and if we eat it, are we still absorbing metals?
Nancy, I wouldn’t reuse the cilantro if you are using it for metal extraction. Honestly, I don’t know if the body would absorb the metals. Anna
I would have never thought that cilantro could do that. That is so neat! Thank you for sharing!