Pollution disparities can be seen from space


Using data from a NASA spectrometer onboard an airplane, researchers said the distribution of air pollution over Houston is concentrated in neighborhoods in which low-income, non-White and Hispanic people live. Photo by skeeze/Pixabay

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Air pollution disparities are visible from space, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Researchers analyzed data collected over several different neighborhoods in Houston, Texas, finding that levels of nitrous dioxide were often concentrated over lower-income, minority neighborhoods.

It's well documented that air pollution affects some regions, cities and neighborhoods more than others, and several studies have shown poorer neighborhoods and minority communities are more likely to breathe polluted air.

One recent study even showed these disparities have remained stable over the last 30 years. Now, research suggests these same disparities can be seen from an altitude of 500 miles.
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To study air pollution using satellites, scientists measure nitrogen dioxide, a precursor to ground-level ozone and particulate matter. Nitrogen dioxide is produced by cars and factories and tracks closely with other types of pollutants.

Historically, nitrogen dioxide monitors on the ground, as well as low-resolution satellite observations, have struggled to identify pollution differences across neighborhoods.

"We have traditionally lacked city-wide observations to fully describe these spatial heterogeneities in Houston and in cities globally, especially for reactive gases like nitrogen dioxide," scientists wrote in their paper.

RELATED Study: Non-whites more exposed to environmental hazards

To identify pollution disparity at finer scales, researchers used new a high-spatial-resolution dataset from a NASA spectrometer onboard an airplane. Scientists used the spectrometer to measure nitrogen dioxide levels across different neighborhoods in Houston.

When researchers analyzed the pollution distribution for patterns related to race-ethnicity and income levels. Their analysis showed pollution was concentrated in neighborhoods in which low-income, non-White and Hispanic people lived.

Researchers compared their data analysis with observations made by the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument, or TROPOMI, a satellite launched in 2017 by the European Space Agency. Their analysis showed the satellite is capable of detecting neighborhood-level pollution disparities.

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"TROPOMI spatial patterns correspond to the surface patterns measured using aircraft profiling and surface monitors," researchers wrote.

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MONOCULTURE
Study: Saving pandas led to downfall of other animals


A young giant panda struggles to climb down a tree at the Panda Research Base in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China on November 20, 2017. A new study says that other species suffered in conservation regions where pandas thrived. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Efforts to save the giant panda from extinction have come at the expense of other large mammals, a new study released Monday by the science journal Nature Ecology and Evolution said.

The study, led by Sheng Li, of Peking University, and William McShea, of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, suggests that leopards, snow leopards, wolves and Asian wild dogs have disappeared in areas protected for the giant panda.

The giant pandas have long been considered an "umbrella species," meaning conservation efforts to benefit them were believed to have a spinoff effect that would benefit others. While some species have benefited, others have not.

Some researchers are now calling for a broader approach in managing the ecosystems where the giant pandas live so they can thrive but not to the determent of other species.

Since the giant panda reserves were set up in China during the 1960s, leopards have disappeared from 81% of reserves, snow leopards from 38%, wolves from 77% and Asian wild dogs from 95%.

Researchers found with the dwindling numbers of leopards and wolves, deer and livestock have mostly roamed free without a threat from natural predators, causing damage to natural habitats for surrounding wildlife, including the pandas.

Samuel Turvey, of the Zoological Society of London, said that while protecting umbrella species have proven successful in many incidences, researchers cannot ignore continued human activity on the wider ecosystem and how non-targeted species are affected.

UPDATE 
Deadly North Korea gas explosion reported near China border



An explosion at the North Korean border city of Hyesan has resulted in deaths and injuries, according to South Korean press reports. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A gas explosion in a North Korean city across the China border may have injured dozens of people and killed several others, according to multiple South Korean news services.

The explosion occurred about 6:10 p.m. Monday in the city of Hyesan, South Korean news service Daily NK reported Wednesday.

The cause of the accident was likely a gas explosion that took place in a multi-family residential building in the Tapsong district of Hyesan. Homes built side by side, referred to as "harmonica housing," were destroyed in a chain reaction of explosions, a North Korea-based source told Daily NK on Tuesday.

"All possessions stored within the homes are gone," the source said.

RELATED North Korea braces for heavy rains, possible flooding

Other reports suggest the explosion was caused by a gas leak in one of the homes. South Korean news service Seoul Pyongyang News reported Wednesday more than 10 people were killed and 30 others were seriously injured, quoting a source familiar with the city. Daily NK reported 15 deaths by Wednesday.

North Korean authorities did not take action in response to the mishap, and no fire trucks were dispatched to the site, according to Daily NK. Residents instead took matter into their own hands but took more than an hour to put out the fire, the report says.

Authorities blamed residents for "carelessness." They also inquired whether locals were able to save portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that typically hang inside North Korean homes. North Koreans have been banned from taking pictures of the incident on their camera phones, according to Daily NK.

RELATED Korean War battle site to be sold to South Korean farmers

South Korea has said it is aware of the situation.

Seoul unification ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key said Wednesday at a regular press briefing the accident may be related to a gasoline or liquefied petroleum gas explosion, and that the government is investigating the incident, Newsis reported.

RELATED North Korea's economy grew in 2019, Seoul says

Report: Red Cross in North Korea activates disaster response


Flooding is expected in North Korea, including in the capital Pyongyang, according to state media on Wednesday. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The International Red Cross is working with North Korean authorities on disaster response as heavy rains continue to pose flooding risks in the country.

Red Cross spokesman Antony Balmain said this week the North Korean Red Cross has activated an emergency response team to "work alongside authorities and local communities in nine provinces," Radio Free Asia reported.

The statement from Balmain comes as North Korean state media warned the Taedong River in the capital of Pyongyang is expected to exceed warning levels.

Balmain also said the response teams are preparing essential goods, including water containers, purification tablets, blankets and sanitary products, for communities that could be affected in the event of disaster.

On Wednesday, Korean Workers' Party paper Rodong Sinmun said the rains are expected to grow heavier due to the impact of Typhoon No. 4.

Storm warnings have been issued for different areas situated near major waterways, and about 6 to 12 inches of rain is expected in the Taedong River basin. Warning levels for the Taedong River are to be surpassed around Thursday evening, the North Korean newspaper said.

The overflow of the Taedong River could damage farms and homes in Pyongyang. The flooding of the river in 2007 paralyzed transportation networks and communication lines, according to South Korean news service Newsis.

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As part of an emergency response, the Red Cross and North Korea are placing priority on providing evacuation routes and shelters for people who may be displaced during floods.

In 2018, floods in North Korea destroyed hundreds of buildings and more than 10,000 people lost their homes.

South Korea's unification ministry called for inter-Korea cooperation on Wednesday and for the exchange of information, but Pyongyang has yet to respond, according to reports.

Citing COVID-19 toll, Michigan Gov. Whitmer declares racism a public health crisis

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared racism a public health emergency Wednesday, citing the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on minority communities. Photo courtesy Michigan Governor's Office
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday declared racism a public health crisis, citing the disproportionate toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the state's minority communities.

An executive order issued by the Democratic governor calls on the state's health department to make health equity a priority and establishes mandatory implicit bias training for all state employees.

"The pandemic has confirmed and highlighted the deadly nature of these pre-existing inequalities caused by systemic racism," Whitmer told reporters.

Michigan health officials say the rate of reported cases for Black residents is more than three times higher than for White residents at 14,703 per million, while the death rate is four times higher at 1,630 per million.

"This reflects long standing, deep societal economic and environmental disparities," Whitmer said.

The state has recorded more than 92,000 COVID-19 infections and nearly 6,500 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Along with the order recognizing racism as a public health crisis, Whitmer also signed a measure creating a Black Leadership Advisory Council, designed to advise the governor on developing policies and actions meant to "eradicate and prevent discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.

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Senate Democrats introduce bill to address COVID-19 racial disparity


Senate Democrats on Wednesday calling for the Trump administration and states to increase testing and outreach programs to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

July 22 (UPI) -- Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., led the introduction of a bill Wednesday seeking to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color.

The COVID-19 Health Disparities Action Act would require the Trump administration to develop an action plan to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 to provide targeted testing, contact tracing and outreach efforts directed at communities of color.

"COVID-19 has had a particularly devastating impact on racial minorities across America," said Menendez. "The fact is Black and Brown Americans suffer higher rates of chronic disease, inequitable access to healthcare, fewer economic opportunities and in some cases real language barriers."

The bill would also require states to revise testing and contact tracing plans to address racial and ethnic minority, rural and other vulnerable populations and ensure that federally funded contact-tracing

 efforts are tailored to the radical and ethnic diversity of local communities.

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The senators noted that African Americans are dying of COVID-19 at approximately 2.5 times the rate of White people, according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker, while American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic and Asian American communities are also being affected by the virus at disproportionate rates.

"Health disparities for people of color is rooted in systemic racism, racial discrimination and record-high levels of income inequality," said Cardin.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that COVID-19 has also had a greater impact on younger people in communities of color as more than 34% of Hispanic and Latin Americans who died from the virus were younger than 65 and 30 percent of Black Americans who died from COVID-19 also were younger than 65, compared to just over 13% of White Americans.

RELATED At-home COVID-19 test kits accurate, might bolster screening effort, study says

World moves to reopen amid COVID-19 pandemic


A patron looks at the Edgar Degas' sculpture, titled "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen," in the "Degas at the Opera" exhibit in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, on the first day it reopened to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Washington, D.C., on July 20. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

RELATED California now has most COVID-19 cases; Indiana, Ohio mandate masks

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UPDATE

Beirut port officials arrested over deadly blasts as Lebanese vent anger at ruler

Issued on: 05/08/2020 - 17:33

A member of security forces walks past the damage near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 5, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher REUTERS - AZIZ TAHER

Text by:FRANCE 24

Lebanon's government announced a two-week state of emergency on Wednesday, a day after twin blasts in the capital's port killed at least 135 people and injured more than 5,000, leaving scores more missing. Follow the day's events as they happened on our liveblog.

Two massive explosions at Beirut's port sent shock waves across the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, flattening buildings and leaving up to 250,000 people homeless

Lebanese officials say the likely cause was the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored for years in a warehouse

An unspecified number of Beirut port officials have been placed under house arrest pending an investigation into the explosions

World leaders have pledged support, with France sending rescuers, medical equipment and a mobile clinic ahead of a visit by President Emmanuel Macron

The UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri has delayed its verdict until Aug.18

Lebanon was already on the brink of collapse amid a severe economic crisis that has ignited mass protests in recent month

At least 135 dead after Beirut explosions; 300,000 homeless

A destroyed silo is seen Wednesday amid the rubble and debris aftermath of a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo by Ahmad Terro/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Beirut have increased the death count from the devastating explosions on Tuesday to at least 135, while one official said Wednesday it could cost Lebanon's capital as much as $5 billion to recover.


Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency Cabinet meeting and asked for a two-week state of emergency.

Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud said about 300,000 were homeless after the blasts and estimated repair costs in the billions. Lebanese Red Cross workers searched abandoned neighborhoods on Wednesday, reporting more than 5,000 injured.

Abboud told local media that damages could range from $3 billion to $5 billion, or "maybe more." The death toll was in the dozens on Tuesday and had risen to triple digits on Wednesday, the Red Cross said.

RELATED Lebanon's foreign minister resigns, says country could become 'failed state'

Officials said they expect the toll to rise as they dig through the debris.

Authorities believe an initial explosion occurred at a warehouse near Beirut's port and ignited a fire, followed by multiple smaller explosions and, finally, a massive blast that caused the most damage. They said stored ammonium nitrate in the area was the likely source.

Seismologists said the biggest explosion was equivalent to a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

RELATED Israel repelled infiltration by Hezbollah, IDF say
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, declaring Wednesday a national day of mourning, has vowed to investigate the explosions and said anyone who may have facilitated them will be held accountable.

Diab said it has long been known that storing ammonium nitrate at the location was a hazard.

The accident could not have come at a worse time for Lebanon, which has been fighting to overcome a major economic crisis because of the devaluation of its currency. Officials said silos that held about 85% of Lebanon's grain were destroyed in the blasts.

Raoul Nehme, Lebanon's economy minister, said seven employees at the port's granaries are missing and that Lebanon now has less than a month's worth of grain reserves.

At least two Instagram accounts were established for those looking for loved ones in Beirut. One of the accounts also is posting lists of people admitted to various hospitals in the city, to help people find family members.

The World Health Organization said it's sending 23 tons of aid from its warehouse in Dubai, including medical trauma kits carrying syringes, bandages and gauze.

Germany has sent a team that includes dozens of search and rescue experts to aid with finding survivors and victims. France, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait are said they are also sending supplies.

Virus testing in the US is dropping, even as deaths mount

by Matthew Perrone, Nicky Forster and Michelle Liu
 

In this Sunday, July 12, 2020, vehicles wait in line at a COVID-19 testing site at the Miami Beach Convention Center during the coronavirus pandemic in Miami Beach, Fla. As coronavirus cases surge in hard-hit Florida, so do the turnaround times for test results. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day, a worrisome trend that officials attribute largely to Americans getting discouraged over having to wait hours to get a test and days or weeks to find out the results.

An Associated Press analysis found that the number of tests per day slid 3.6% over the past two weeks to 750,000, with the count falling in 22 states. That includes places like Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Iowa where the percentage of positive tests is high and continuing to climb, an indicator that the virus is still spreading uncontrolled.

Amid the crisis, some health officials are calling for the introduction of a different type of test that would yield results in a matter of minutes and would be cheap and simple enough for millions of Americans to test themselves—but would also be less accurate.

"There's a sense of desperation that we need to do something else," said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard's Global Health Institute.

Widespread testing is considered essential to containing the outbreak as the U.S. approaches a mammoth 5 million confirmed infections and more than 156,000 deaths out of over 700,000 worldwide.

Testing demand is expected to surge again this fall, when schools reopen and flu season hits, most likely outstripping supplies and leading to new delays and bottlenecks.

Some of the decline in testing over the past few weeks was expected after backlogged commercial labs urged doctors to concentrate on their highest-risk patients. But some health and government officials are seeing growing public frustration and waning demand.

Nasal swab coronavirus testing kits sit on a table during a tour of a new temporary coronavirus testing site Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

In Iowa, state officials are reporting less interest in testing, despite ample supplies. The state's daily testing rate peaked in mid-July but has declined 40% in the last two weeks.

"We have the capacity. Iowans just need to test," Gov. Kim Reynolds said last week.

Jessica Moore of rural Newberry, South Carolina, said that after a private lab lost her COVID-19 test results in mid-July, she had to get re-tested at a pop-up site organized by the state.

Moore and her husband arrived early on a Saturday morning at the site, a community center, where they waited for two hours for her test. Moore watched in the rear-view mirror as people drove up, saw the long line of cars, and then turned around and left.

"If people have something to do on a Saturday and they want to get tested, they're not going to wait for two hours in the South Carolina heat for a test, especially if they're not symptomatic," Moore said.


Before traveling from Florida to Delaware last month, Laura DuBose Schumacher signed up to go to a drive-up testing site in Orlando with her husband. They were given a one-hour window in which to arrive.

They got there at the start of the window, but after 50 minutes it looked as if the wait would be another hour. Others who had gone through the line told them that they wouldn't get their results until five days later, a Monday, at the earliest. They were planning to travel the next day, so they gave up.

A masked pedestrian walks past a coronavirus testing site in the Panorama City section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2020. A technical problem has caused a lag in California's tally of coronavirus test results, casting doubt on the accuracy of recent data showing improvements in the infection rate and hindering efforts to track the spread. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

"Monday would have been pointless, so we left the line," Schumacher said.

The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million, with new cases running at nearly 60,000 a day on average, down from more than 70,000 in the second half of July.

U.S. testing is built primarily on highly sensitive molecular tests that detect the genetic code of the coronavirus. Although the test is considered the gold standard for accuracy, experts increasingly say the country's overburdened lab system is incapable of keeping pace with the outbreak and producing results within two or three days, the time frame crucial to isolating patients and containing the virus.

"They're doing as good a job as they possibly can do, but the current system will not allow them to keep up with the demand," said Mara Aspinall of Arizona State University's College of Health Solutions.

Testing delays have led researchers at Harvard and elsewhere to propose a new approach using so-called antigen tests—rapid technology already used to screen for flu, strep throat and other common infections. Instead of detecting the virus itself, such tests look for viral proteins, or antigens, which are generally considered a less accurate measure of infection.

A number of companies are studying COVID-19 antigen tests in which you spit on a specially coated strip of paper, and if you are infected, it changes color. Experts say the speed and widespread availability of such tests would more than make up for their lower precision.

While no such tests for the coronavirus are on the U.S. market, experts say the technology is simple and the hurdles are more regulatory than technical. The Harvard researchers say production could quickly be scaled into the millions.

Members of the Nevada National Guard install social distancing stickers while setting up a new temporary coronavirus testing site Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A proposal from the Harvard researchers calls for the federal government to distribute $1 saliva-based antigen tests to all Americans so that they can test themselves regularly, perhaps even daily.

Even with accuracy as low as 50%, researchers estimate the paper strip tests would uncover five times more COVID-19 cases than the current laboratory-based approach, which federal officials estimate catches just 1 in 10 infections.

But the approach faces resistance in Washington, where federal regulators have required at least 80% accuracy for new COVID-19 tests.

To date, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed only two COVID-19 antigen tests to enter the market. Those tests require a nasal swab supervised by a health professional and can only be run on specialized machines found at hospitals, doctor's offices and clinics.

Also, because of the risk of false negatives, doctors may need to confirm a negative result with a genetic test when patients have possible symptoms of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the governors of Maryland, Virginia, Louisiana and three other states announced an agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation to purchase more than 3 million of the FDA-cleared antigen tests, underscoring the growing interest in the technology.

When asked about introducing cheaper, paper-based tests, the government's "testing czar," Adm. Brett Giroir, warned that their accuracy could fall as low as 20% to 30%.

"I don't think that would do a service to the American public of having something that is wrong seven out of 10 times," Giroir said last week. "I think that could be catastrophic."


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© 2020 The Associated Press.

US signs $1 billion vaccine deal with Johnson & Johnson

SARS-CoV-2 (shown here in an electron microscopy image). 

Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

The US government Wednesday announced a new $1 billion investment in a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson, guaranteeing 100 million doses.

J&J, via its subsidiary Janssen, had already received $456 million in March.

The new money will allow the company to ramp up production so that doses are ready for shipping if and when the drug receives regulatory approval.

The government also has the option to acquire additional doses sufficient to vaccinate 300 million people.

With the latest deal, President Donald Trump's administration has spent $9.4 billion on vaccine agreements, with five companies agreeing to provide at least 700 million doses, according to an AFP tally.

These deals, under Operation Warp Speed, foresee launching production in parallel with clinical trials, with the government taking the financial risk away from the private sector.

The US has also spent billions on building manufacturing sites, on companies that make syringes and vials, and on the development of treatments.

Washington has bought up almost all stock of the antiviral drug remdesivir that will be produced until September. The medicine is the first treatment with proven benefit against COVID-19.

Also Wednesday, Canada signed an agreement for undisclosed financial terms with Pfizer Canada and BioNTech SE for 100 million doses of their experimental vaccine in 2020, and more than one billion in 2021, under "Project Lightspeed."

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Belgian meat plant quarantines 225 staff

 

More than a quarter of staff have been quarantined

One of Belgium's biggest meat processing plants has sent 225 staff home to quarantine Wednesday after a cluster of coronavirus cases was discovered, the firm and the local mayor said.

Abbatoirs and meat-packing plants have become infection hotspots in other countries as the world deals with the epidemic and the big Westvlees facility in Staden, in northwest Belgium is now under close watch.

According to a Westvlees spokesman, Manuel Goderis, a number of cases of COVID-19 infection were discovered in recent days in the pork-cutting section of the plant, which employs 225 of the more than 800 workers on site.

"We decided not to take any risks and to test all the employees of this production unit and to put them in quarantine," he said. The workers were tested on Wednesday and results are expected on Thursday.

The bourgmestre or mayor of Staden, Francesco Vanderjeugd, told AFP that six confirmed cases had been reported earlier in the day and that the number had risen to 18 within hours, even as mass testing was ordered.

Two of the initial six cases were cross-border workers from France, two came from Staden and two from elsewhere in West Flanders, he added.

Westvlees is one of Europe's biggest producers of fresh and processed pork. It butchers 1.4 million pigs per year and supplies 140,000 tonnes of meat to clients worldwide.

Belgium has one of the highest per capita rates of COVID-19 in the world and infection rates are again rising after earlier success in bringing the epidemic under control. Out of a population of around 11 million, 9,852 have died.


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Canada strikes deals for vaccine candidates with Pfizer, Moderna

Canada has signed agreements with pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna to supply millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, but the vaccines are still in development while negotiations continue with other potential suppliers

Canada announced Wednesday it has signed two agreements with American pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021.

Millions of doses will be supplied, but the vaccines are still in development while negotiations continue with other potential suppliers, Procurement Minister Anita Anand told a news conference.

They will also still need to obtain Health Canada regulatory approvals before being distributed to Canadians, she said.

The agreement with the American giant Pfizer concerns a vaccine candidate developed in partnership with Germany's BioNTech.

BioNTech and Pfizer reported the first conclusive trials of the BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine candidate in early July, after testing 45 people. They started large-scale clinical trials at the end of July, with 30,000 volunteers aged 18 to 35.

Moderna is to provide its mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate, which has started to be tested in thousands of Phase 3 clinical trial human participants.

On Tuesday, Canada's chief public health officer, Theresa Tam, warned that a vaccine will be a "very important aspect of the response," but will not bring a swift end to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We're planning, as a public health community, that we're going to have to manage this pandemic certainly over the next year, but certainly it may be planning for the longer term on the next two to three years during which the vaccine may play a role. But we don't know yet," Tam said.

"People might think that if we get a vaccine then everything goes back to normal the way it was before. That's not the case," added her deputy, Howard Njoo.

Canada had more than 118,000 cases of coronavirus and 8,996 patients have died, as of Wednesday.

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New acid mine drainage treatment turns waste into valuable critical minerals

by Matthew Carroll, Pennsylvania State University

Acid mine drainage pollution in a stream in Cambria County, Pennsylvania.

 Credit: Penn State

A new way to treat acid mine drainage (AMD) could help transform the environmental pollution problem into an important domestic source of the critical rare earth elements needed to produce technology ranging from smart phones to fighter jets, according to Penn State scientists.

"Acid mine drainage has been a significant environmental concern for many decades," said Mohammad Rezaee, assistant professor of mining engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. "This research shows we can modify existing treatment processes in a way that not only addresses environmental concerns, but at the same time recovers valuable elements and actually decreases the cost of treatment."

A team of Penn State scientists developed a two-stage treatment process that enabled them to recover higher concentrations of rare earth elements using smaller amounts of chemicals than previously possible, the scientists said.

"This technique represents an efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly method to extract these valuable minerals that are used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products," said Sarma Pisupati, professor of energy and mineral engineering and director of the Center for Critical Minerals at Penn State.

Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals widely used in advanced technologies and designated by the U.S. as critical to the country's economic and national security. The U.S. currently imports nearly 100% of these materials, with China producing about 85% of the world supply.

AMD from coal mining operations in Appalachia represents a promising domestic source of rare earth elements because it often contains high concentrations of the minerals, and because it is already being collected and treated due to environmental concerns, the scientists said.

"We are currently incurring costs just to treat the water, and in many cases, we are not even collecting all these minerals," Pisupati said. "Now we are able to turn what had been considered a waste product into a valuable resource."

AMD occurs when pyrite rock—iron sulfide—unearthed by mining activity interacts with water and air and then oxidizes, creating sulfuric acid. The acid then breaks down surrounding rocks, causing toxic metals to dissolve into the water, the scientists said.

Traditional treatment methods involve collecting the AMD in retention ponds and adding chemicals to neutralize the pH—an indicator of how acidic or basic a substance is. This causes the dissolved metals to precipitate, or form into solids, and settle out of the water. Up to 70% of rare earth elements can be extracted as a sludge using this process, and the rest are released along with the treated water, according to researchers.

The scientists found they could extract a higher concentration of rare earth elements and other critical minerals by adding carbon dioxide to the AMD and then bringing it to a neutral pH of 7, the target for environmental remediation, in two separate steps.

Using this method, 90% of aluminum was recovered at a pH of 5 and 85% of rare earth elements were recovered by pH 7, the scientists reported in Chemical Engineering Journal.

Adding carbon dioxide to AMD produces chemical reactions that result in the formation of solid minerals called carbonites, the scientists said. The rare earth elements bond with the extra carbonites and precipitate out of the water at lower pH values.

The process, called carbon dioxide mineralization, is an emerging technology being used to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This study represents the first time it has been used to recover large concentrations of rare earth elements from AMD, the scientists said.

Recovering the same concentration of rare earth elements from AMD using traditional treatment methods would require adding additional chemicals to increase the pH beyond 7. The scientists said by lowering recovery costs, the new treatment method could make the domestic rare-earth-element market more competitive.

"With a simple modification of existing treatment processes, industry could use less chemicals and get more value out of AMD waste," Rezaee said. "This is the beauty of this research."

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More information: Behzad Vaziri Hassas et al, Precipitation of rare earth elements from acid mine drainage by CO2 mineralization process, Chemical Engineering Journal (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.125716

Provided by Pennsylvania State University