Pill to remove radiation from beverages

Scientists have developed a capsule that can remove radiation from beverages.

Announced at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the capsule is simply dropped into water, milk, fruit juices and other foods to remove more than a dozen radioactive substances.

The developers anticipate the technology can be used in a variety of applications, from large-scale food processors to consumers in a home kitchen.

“We repurposed and repackaged for radioactive decontamination of water and beverages a tried-and-true process that originally was developed to mine the oceans for uranium and remove uranium and heavy metals from heavily contaminated water,” said Dr Allen Apblett, who headed the research team.

Dr Apblett said the Fukushima nuclear disaster and concerns about nuclear terrorism led the team to consider different ways to apply the existing technology.

Arsenic, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals can be removed using the capsule. Once the capsule is put into a beverage, the radioactive materials and heavy metals would concentrate inside the capsule, which would then be removed - leaving the beverage safe to drink.

Dr Apblett anticipates that the capsule could be useful for consumers who have heavy metals in their food and water supplies.