IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – There are a lot of different uses for corn and now students at the University of Iowa developed a new one that helps fight harmful chemicals in the environment.
Polychlorinated biphenyl, also known as PCBs, is what’s called a ‘forever’ chemical. Although banned in 1979, it’s still present in a lot of older buildings.
This group of researchers with the University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering program were able to contract a type of bacteria from corn that can be put back into the earth’s soil and break down that harmful chemical.
The result is called biochar.
“What you do is you take a plant-based material, and so in our case it’s the corn kernels, and you have to heat it up at a very high temperature with low oxygen,” said Civil and Environmental Engineering Grad Student David Ramotowski. “I’m using a bacteria which is a process called bio-remediation and so the way that works is you add the bacteria into the soil and it will take the PCBs and kin of break them apart.”
They say this development not only will help better the environment, but also help those in agriculture by creating new demands for these types of crops.
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