4 ms·

The stats on this look good. Do any biochemists have notes that would point to it being or not being worthwhile?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
joshuamcginnis 3y ago
This is the first time I've seen the use of spent brewers yeast as the biomass for bioaccumulation. However, it falls short of addressing the economic feasibility of extracting the accumulated metals, an essential aspect for practical implementation. The ability of fungi to absorb metals is well-documented, but the real-world application of fungi for purposes such as bioaccumulation and bioremediation is predominantly hindered by the economics, including high labor costs, expensive inputs, and slow processing times. Hopefully in the future we can dump a bunch of used brewers yeast into a giant gold tailings pond and leech gold and other precious metals for cheap, but we're not there yet.
- defrost 3y ago
  Extracting metals would be a bonus, removing them from wastewater and concentrating them in a mass that can be buried for later processing is boon enough for now. The presence of heavy metals in wastewater has been increasing with the growth of industry and human activities, e.g., plating and electroplating industry, batteries, pesticides, mining industry, rayon industry, metal rinse processes, tanning industry, fluidized bed bioreactors, textile industry, metal smelting, petrochemicals, paper manufacturing, and electrolysis applications. The heavy metal contaminated wastewater finds its way into the environment, threatening human health and the ecosystem. The heavy metals are non-biodegradable1 and could be carcinogenic; thus, the presence of these metals in water by improper amounts could result in critical health issues to living organisms. Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater: a comprehensive and critical review (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00127-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00127-0 Heavy Metal Ions Removal From Wastewater Using Cryogels: A Review (2022) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.765592/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.7655...
  - alexey-salmin 3y ago
    You can as well just bury the microelectronics directly
    - defrost 3y ago
      That just leaves the bulk of the metals as toxic waste in water supplies; the metal compounds from: plating and electroplating industry, batteries, pesticides, mining industry, rayon industry, metal rinse processes, tanning industry, fluidized bed bioreactors, textile industry, metal smelting, petrochemicals, paper manufacturing, and electrolysis applications, etc.
      - alexey-salmin 3y ago
        Correct, but you suggest to bury them just same. Given that other components of electronics like plastics are also toxic to water sources, you need to bury them with care in any case and I don't see why separate them in advance.
  - joshuamcginnis 3y ago
    I'm involved in two different government-funded bioremediation projects that are exploring the use of fungi to remediate superfund sites. The challenge is not in fungi's ability to accumulate PFAS or heavy metals; it's in doing it cost-effectively over the current methods. As OP pointed out, in most cases, pollution is simply buried in a location that the EPA has designated safe for disposal.
- fock 3y ago
  am I the only one getting strong ChatGPT vibes here? The first paragraph totally misses the point of any scientists discussion of this, which would center on the fraudulence level (esp. in a frontiersin-publication). Economic viability is important of course, but first results have to be robust...
  - passwordoops 3y ago
    Not disputing the potential ChatGPT, but I wouldn't harp on that top paragraph. The lab I work in does similar research (with inorganic materials) and virtually anything with anionic functional groups will work pretty effectively and more or less to the same degree. So the real question at this point is economic viability and local availability

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

This is the first time I've seen the use of spent brewers yeast as the biomass for bioaccumulation. However, it falls short of addressing the economic feasibility of extracting the accumulated metals, an essential aspect for practical implementation. The ability of fungi to absorb metals is well-documented, but the real-world application of fungi for purposes such as bioaccumulation and bioremediation is predominantly hindered by the economics, including high labor costs, expensive inputs, and slow processing times. Hopefully in the future we can dump a bunch of used brewers yeast into a giant gold tailings pond and leech gold and other precious metals for cheap, but we're not there yet.

defrost 3y ago
Extracting metals would be a bonus, removing them from wastewater and concentrating them in a mass that can be buried for later processing is boon enough for now. The presence of heavy metals in wastewater has been increasing with the growth of industry and human activities, e.g., plating and electroplating industry, batteries, pesticides, mining industry, rayon industry, metal rinse processes, tanning industry, fluidized bed bioreactors, textile industry, metal smelting, petrochemicals, paper manufacturing, and electrolysis applications. The heavy metal contaminated wastewater finds its way into the environment, threatening human health and the ecosystem. The heavy metals are non-biodegradable1 and could be carcinogenic; thus, the presence of these metals in water by improper amounts could result in critical health issues to living organisms. Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater: a comprehensive and critical review (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00127-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-021-00127-0 Heavy Metal Ions Removal From Wastewater Using Cryogels: A Review (2022) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.765592/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.7655...
- alexey-salmin 3y ago
  You can as well just bury the microelectronics directly
  - defrost 3y ago
    That just leaves the bulk of the metals as toxic waste in water supplies; the metal compounds from: plating and electroplating industry, batteries, pesticides, mining industry, rayon industry, metal rinse processes, tanning industry, fluidized bed bioreactors, textile industry, metal smelting, petrochemicals, paper manufacturing, and electrolysis applications, etc.
    - alexey-salmin 3y ago
      Correct, but you suggest to bury them just same. Given that other components of electronics like plastics are also toxic to water sources, you need to bury them with care in any case and I don't see why separate them in advance.
- joshuamcginnis 3y ago
  I'm involved in two different government-funded bioremediation projects that are exploring the use of fungi to remediate superfund sites. The challenge is not in fungi's ability to accumulate PFAS or heavy metals; it's in doing it cost-effectively over the current methods. As OP pointed out, in most cases, pollution is simply buried in a location that the EPA has designated safe for disposal.
fock 3y ago
am I the only one getting strong ChatGPT vibes here? The first paragraph totally misses the point of any scientists discussion of this, which would center on the fraudulence level (esp. in a frontiersin-publication). Economic viability is important of course, but first results have to be robust...
- passwordoops 3y ago
  Not disputing the potential ChatGPT, but I wouldn't harp on that top paragraph. The lab I work in does similar research (with inorganic materials) and virtually anything with anionic functional groups will work pretty effectively and more or less to the same degree. So the real question at this point is economic viability and local availability