--- title: "Scientists Say New Device Can Scrub 99.9 Percent of Microplastics From Water" description: "Scientists have developed a new technique that filters out microplastics from drinking water — and its ingredients are all plant-based." date: "2023-08-22" modified: "2023-08-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/organic-device-filters-microplastics" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "drinking water" - "microplastics" - "the digest" - "water filtration" --- # Scientists Say New Device Can Scrub 99.9 Percent of Microplastics From Water ![Scientists have developed a new technique that filters out microplastics from drinking water — and its ingredients are all plant-based.]() *\Image: University of British Columbia\* ## Purification Station Scientists have developed a new technique that filters out microplastics from drinking water — and its ingredients are all plant-based. Crafted by researchers out of Canada's University of British Columbia and China's Sichuan University, the "bioCap" purifying filter is comprised of compounds from fruit and wood that are able to eliminate almost all microplastics in water. Using fruit tannins — the chemicals that make under-ripe fruit taste bad — coated over sawdust, the researchers were able to create a cylindrical water filtration device that eliminates between 95.2 and 99.9 percent of microplastics depending on what they're made of. That's a huge deal for anyone who's paid attention to the news in the past few years because [microplastics]() [are being]() [found everywhere]() scientists look for them: [in our bodies](), [our water](), [our food](), and [even the skies](). ## Organic Solution To test the system, the team of forestry, chemistry, and biological engineering researchers gave groups of mice either drinking water purified with the bioCap or untreated water. In the mice that got the purified water, "the process was proven to prevent the accumulation of microplastics in the organs," a [press release claims](). What's perhaps most exciting about the bioCap device is that even at its least efficient, per a study [published in the journal *Advanced Materials*]() earlier this year, it still managed to eliminate the vast majority of microplastic materials. "There are \[microfibers\] from clothing, microbeads from cleansers and soaps, and foams and pellets from utensils, containers, and packaging," Dr. Orlando Rojas, the scientific director of UBC's BioProducts Institute, said in the school's press release. "By taking advantage of the different molecular interactions around tannic acids, our bioCap solution was able to remove virtually all of these different microplastic types." Whether it needs to be scaled up for industrial use — or down for home use — Rojas said that the bioCap is an ideal solution because it's made of organic materials and does not lead to "further pollution" like plastic filters do. It's an excellent proposal for a deceptively simple solution — and hopefully, people in power concerned about the [alarming findings from microplastics research]() will listen. **More on microplastics:** *[Scientists Puzzled to Find Plastic Fragments Inside Human Hearts]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()