Peat

against heavy metals

Sigurd Aarvig

Sphagnum moss can clean water for heavy metals and prevent growth of alga.

Some special properties of species of sphagnum moss fond in ordinary peat enable these to capture heavy metals and ammonia from polluted emissions.

"It is about time we looked at the two billion tons of peat in Norway that could be used for other purposes than as fuels and soil improvers," says Professor Terence Painter. He has being doing research on peat-moss since 1975, originally as part of attempts to limit the damage caused by acid rain.

Every year, some three to six million tons of humic acid are emptied into Norwegian fjords. The nitrogen content of these acids makes a contribution to the marine food chain, which among other things affects algal growth. For this reason, Painter is involved in studying the reaction of sphagnum to primary amines, and how humic acids break down in the ocean.

"How can this be exploited in the context of environmental protection?"

"In nature, sphagnum is slowly liberated in water-soluble form. In living moss and in "young" peat sphagnum is insoluble, but is still capable of capturing primary amines. Sphagnum moss and young peat can thus be used in filters and ion-exchange columns to remove such compounds from water. This opens up the prospect of many applications, e.g. in connection with agricultural discharges and the purification of industrial waste water. The possibility of limiting algal growth would be of interest to the aquaculture industry."

Terence Painter's new discoveries have not been commercially exploited so far. He has been doing basic research with the help of a grant awarded some years ago by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities. The State Pollution Control Authority has encouraged NTH´s Dept. of Biotechnology to continue research on sphagnum.