Joshua - April S.I.N. - Sea Shells used to clean up Heavy Metals

In developing countries, millions of people lack access to clean drinking water because companies can’t afford expensive filtration systems. However, according to the article Sea Shells used to clean up Heavy Metals by Michael Reilly, published on msnbc.com on April 27, 2009, a team of researchers, led by Stephan Kohler of the Graz University of Technology in Austria, are currently testing a solution. The solution involves nothing but one of the cheapest, most abundant materials available – seashells.
Kohler and his team are currently trying this system out in factories on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. The system works by pouring metal and acid-laden water over a bed of crushed clam or mussel shells. The seashells are made from aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate (CACO3). Aragonite swaps its calcium atoms for heavy metals, and the shells, having a pH of 8.3 when dissolved, are naturally basic.
This project started with work done in 2003 by Manuel Prieto of Oviedo University in Spain, who demonstrated that seashells remove cadmium from water. While Prieto removed concentrated cadmium in a laboratory environment, Kohler and his team are expanding that to include other heavy metals, such as lead.
While it’s not likely that developed countries, who can afford more expensive filtration systems, will use seashells to treat water, it could save millions of lives in developing countries. The implications of this are fairly obvious – the quality of life will be significantly improved in those countries due to the increase in drinking water quality.