Sacha Inchi shells turned into low-cost carbon filters for mercury removal from water

Researchers in Colombia have converted Sacha Inchi shell waste into carbon materials that remove mercury from contaminated water. The best version, called SE-300, removed about 96% of mercury in lab tests, while a potassium hydroxide-treated variant reached roughly 98%. Production cost is estimated at $18.98 per kilogram, and the material kept working above 96% removal across five reuse cycles. In real water samples, performance dropped to 75% in Caquetá River water and 63% in simulated domestic wastewater, which is expected given competing ions and suspended solids. The study was published in Heliyon. It points to a low-cost, locally available option for mercury cleanup in Amazon regions where mining pollution is a persistent problem.