Is Your Water Safe?

Reported August 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Mercury ... It's in the ground, in the air, and in our water! We even have a little bit in our bodies. That's normal. But too much mercury could cause health problems. What's in your water? New tests may help detect if something dangerous is coming out of your faucet.

Courtney Hylton and her 2-year-old daughter Jordan enjoy their afternoon tea parties. Even though it tastes just right, what's in the water could hurt them both.

"I really want to know what's in there that shouldn't be there," Courtney says.

According to chemist Andres Campiglia, Ph.D., mercury attacks the nervous system. Too much mercury in your body can cause injury to your brain, kidneys, heart, lungs and immune system.

For pregnant women like Courtney, too much mercury can be toxic to their unborn babies. That's why she is having her water tested.

University of Central Florida chemists Eloy Hernández, Ph.D., and Campiglia have created a new quick, cheap test to detect mercury by using a very unlikely source -- pure gold. Water is mixed with a solution containing gold nanorods, or solid gold bars 2,000-times smaller than the width of a human hair. Gold absorbs mercury. Then, scientists use an optical spectrometer to measure the light soaked up by the nanorods and reveal how much mercury is present.

"The more reddish it becomes, the higher the concentration of mercury," Hernández tells Ivanhoe.

The entire process takes less than 10 minutes. Results read out on a computer.

Courtney and Jordan's water was safe, so for them it's another cup of tea -- with a little milk -- and no mercury.

This mercury test works on not only liquids, but also on gases and solids. Scientists believe it can also be used in a larger capacity to clean up water and power plants. It could be available to the public within a few years.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Eloy Hernández, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Optics
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
(407) 823-0843
florenzi@mail.ucf.edu

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