EDITORIAL – Thankfully, Carnegie chemists aim to clean

Kudos are due to Carnegie Mellon’s chemists, who have found an environmentally sound way to… Kudos are due to Carnegie Mellon’s chemists, who have found an environmentally sound way to break down some of the toxins seeping into the world’s water supply.

Doctoral student Arani Chanda’s findings deal with a group of man-made compounds known as nitrophenols. The largest producers of these compounds, which the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as toxic substances, are the dye and pesticide industries, though they are also found in diesel exhaust and ammunition.

One of the best-known nitrophenols in this country is TNT. Not only are nitrophenols poisonous to aquatic life, but also they are damaging to human beings’ nervous systems.

The science behind this discovery hinges largely on a powerful catalyst, Fe-TAML. Also recently created, it is the work of Terrence Collins, director of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at CMU. This “green” catalyst speeds the rate of chemical reactions, though the process does not consume it. Fe-TAML works by separating hydrogen peroxide into water and an oxygen atom, which then destroys less desirable – and more toxic – molecules, without leaving behind any harmful residues.

Already, this catalyst has proven capable of cleaning up polluted water at industrial mills and removing sulfur from diesel fuel. In addition, it kills anthrax spores and other similarly unpleasant water-borne microbes. It was only with Chanda’s recent research, though, that Fe-TAML’s effectiveness with several nitrophenols became known.

All of this research is especially laudatory because of its possible transition out of the laboratory and into real life. The catalyst works at room temperature and can withstand a broad range of acidity levels – with additional testing, it will hopefully prove an effective cleaner of large-scale waterways.

Anything that will slow the rate at which mankind degrades the environment deserves high praise, and it looks like CMU has discovered an especially suitable solution.

Granted, the environmental ideal is to avoid producing noxious substances like nitrophenols in the first place, but discoveries such as Fe-TAML will keep the world’s ecosystems from collapsing before such a time can be reached. Even though, by environmental standards, eco-friendly chemicals are a clear priority, there is sadly less monetary profit to be made in cleaning up these messes than there is in creating them. It is heartening to know that strides are being taken toward a green society, especially in Pittsburgh.

The time when Americans could feel comfortable drinking out of a local river or stream is long gone – most Pitt students would not swim in the water surrounding Pittsburgh, let alone drink it. With people such as Chanda and Collins, though, such a time may eventually return.