Dawid Kramski from Wrocław University of Technology is looking for a way to remove arsenic deposited at the bottom of the Baltic Sea using polymers applied in 3D printing. Eliminating chemical weapons stockpiles from World War II is quite a challenge. It is estimated that there are around 40,000 tonnes of it in the Baltic Sea.
Dawid Kramski has received a grant of EUR 30 000 from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The young scientist wants to test whether polymers known from 3D printing can be used to remove arsenic from the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
World War II chemical weapons dumps are a significant source of arsenic in the waters and bottom sediments. Arsenic, from decaying chemical weapons, is a serious threat to the marine ecosystem and human health, pointed out Dawid Kramski from the PWr PhD School.
Dawid Kramski is in the process of writing his PhD thesis on the removal of heavy metals on modified 3D printed structures from polymeric materials. He came up with the idea of using this method to remove arsenic during his research.
The material’s suitable properties will result in the interventional or permanent absorption of marine pollution, which I believe is an attractive alternative to the methods used to date, which involve the extraction and destruction of dumped chemical weapons, Kramski pointed out.
According to estimates by the MARE Foundation, some 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons from the First World War currently lie on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
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