Wet wipes conveniently clean and sanitize soiled surfaces and skin. Because some labels do not clearly indicate how consumers should dispose of them, these small cloths often are flushed down the toilet and released by sewage plants into waterways. Now, researchers report in ACS ES&T Water that some of these wipes break down into plastic fibers, or microplastics, that could harm aquatic life.  

People and animals create lots of waste that is usually sent to landfills, incinerated or stored in engineered ponds such as manure lagoons. Now, researchers publishing in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters report a potential removal method using insects, specifically black soldier fly larvae. In experiments, the larvae ate spoiled food, sewage sludge or livestock manure, and removed most human-pathogenic viruses. The researchers say this demonstrates a step toward simple, environmentally friendly waste management.

Dining on the moon or Mars might seem like a fantasy reserved for science fiction, but researchers are investigating how it could become a reality. Their efforts to recycle plant and human waste into a fertilizer material — turning the barren surfaces of the moon and Mars into fertile fields that might be suitable for extraterrestrial agriculture — are described in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.