Systems and methods of removing and managing heavy metals

摘要

Systems and methods remove and manage heavy metals. In one implementation, an exemplary method can be applied to food processing and food consumption to remove heavy metals such as mercury, lead, uranium and cadmium before absorption by a living organism. The exemplary method exposes the food to a heavy-metal binding ligand, such as a concentrated protein or phytic acid, to form a heavy-metal chelate, and then allows the chelate to separate from the food. In another implementation, an exemplary probe possesses innovative molecular layers on its surface to detect and quantify heavy metals by attracting and binding traces of the heavy metals on a ligand layer.

主权项

1. A method of processing a food, comprising:
receiving a food that contains a heavy metal or pollutant; exposing the food to a ligand to form a heavy-metal chelate or a pollutant chelate; and separating the heavy-metal chelate or the pollutant chelate from the food, wherein the ligand comprises one of a legume protein, a pulse legume protein, a vegetable protein, a grain protein, phytic acid, or a phytic acid derivative.