Nov 10, 2015 06:50 PM EST
Accidental Discovery: Scientists Discovered that Orange Peels Can Save Thousands of Lives

An accidental discovery made a remarkable breakthrough which can end up saving thousands of lives. As The New Daily, Australian researchers were able to "accidentally" discover to remove mercury from water. The material was derived from industrial waste and orange peel.

Both researchers from South Autralia's Flinders University, Max Worthington and Justin Chalker stated that there's no method the same as theirs as of this date.

As per the website, it is a huge step for the duo as mercury is one of the major pollutants that can cause outstanding damage on both food and water supplies. Mercury can is known to have a hazardous effect o human nervous system and is known to be highly poisonous for children.

As per Dr Chalker, the best thing about their accidental discovery was it is cheap and relied on products which were already discarded. It is highly affordable which means in can be "used for a large-scale enviromantal clean ups, to coat water pipes carrying domestic and water waste, and even mercury removal from large bodies of water."

The affordability of the material meant it could be used for large-scale environmental clean-ups, to coat water pipes carrying domestic and waste water, and even in removing mercury from large bodies of water.

During his interview with ABC, Dr Chalker stated that what they discovered is relatively cheap and grows from trees.

"Mercury contamination plagues many areas of the world, affecting both food and water supplies and creating a serious need for an efficient and cost-effective method to trap this mercury, we ended up settling on sulphur because it's produced in 70 million tonnes per year by the petroleum industry as a by-product, so there are not very many uses for it, and limonene is produced in 70,000 tonnes per year and so it's relatively cheap, It literally grows on trees."

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