Metal leaching from antimicrobial cloth face masks intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Global health organizations recommend the use of cloth face coverings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Seemingly overnight, companies whose primary business is in no way related to healthcare or personal protective equipment-from mattresses manufacturers to big box stores-transitioned into the "mask business." Many companies advertise antimicrobial masks containing silver, copper, or other antimicrobials. Often, the techniques used to load such antimicrobials onto mask fibers are undisclosed, and the potential for metal leaching from these masks is yet unknown. We exposed nine so-called "antimicrobial" face masks (and one 100% cotton control mask) to deionized water, laundry detergent, and artificial saliva to quantify the leachable silver and copper that may occur during mask washing and wearing. Leaching varied widely across manufacturer, metal, and leaching solution, but in some cases was as high as 100% of the metals contained in the as-received mask after 1 h of exposure.

Valorization of cherry pits: Great Lakes agro-industrial waste to mediate Great Lakes water quality.

To meet human food and fiber needs in an environmentally and economically sustainable way, we must improve the efficiency of waste, water, and nutrient use by converting vast quantities of agricultural and food waste to renewable bioproducts. This work converts waste cherry pits, an abundant food waste in the Great Lakes region, to biochars and activated biochars via slow pyrolysis. Biochars produced have surface areas between 206 and 274 m2/g and increased bioavailability of Fe, K, Mg, Mn, and P. The biochars can be implemented as soil amendments to reduce nutrient run-off and serve as a valuable carbon sink (biochars contain 74-79% carbon), potentially mitigating harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes. CO2-activated biochars have surface areas of up to 629 m2/g and exhibit selective metal adsorption for the removal of metals from simulated contaminated drinking water, an environmental problem plaguing this region. Through sustainable waste-to-byproduct valorization we convert this waste food biomass into biochar for use as a soil amendment and into activated biochars to remove metals from drinking water, thus alleviating economic issues associated with cherry pit waste handling and reducing the environmental impact of the cherry processing industry.