ASU researchers develop algae strain that can clean arsenic from drinking water

In Arizona, a team of biomedical engineering students at Arizona State University engineered microalgae to bind arsenic in water, reduce it and sequester the toxic contamination. The ASU team developed a strain of mutant algae that significantly captures arsenic in tandem with a filter system.

While more than 99% of Arizonans who obtain drinking water from public water systems are served water which meet the Safe Drinking Water Act arsenic standards, arsenic is a major concern and cost for small public water systems and the 5% of Arizonans who get their water from private wells. Prolonged exposure to arsenic can cause nausea, vomiting, negative effects on cognitive development, cancer and death.