A hot topic within society today is the quality of air that we breathe; major cities including London have found that pollution is quickly on the rise and this has led to the associated health problems for citizens. Air purification research is always advancing to the point whereby the research team at the centre for Advanced Biotechnology Studies within the National University of Mexico have developed an air-purifying filter that implements Peanut Shells.
Under the leadership of biotech expert Raul Pineda Olmedo, the team have found that the Biofilter specifically relies upon micro-organisms such as Fusarium fungi and Brevibacterium bacteria which typically grow in peanut shells. The research and studies have found that these microbes are able to absorb harmful substances in the air before converting them to carbon dioxide and water.
It takes 28 days before an effective amount of the organisms are able to colonize one of the filters. As yet, the only created prototype is in the form of a kitchen hood, however, the university hopes to further develop this project with the aim of bringing this innovation to market.
It is a fascinating insight into how a previously thought of disposable and ignored ingredient as in this case, could in fact be utilized in such a manner.
