It may seem surprising, but this silly fruit is good for more than a monkey. Anne Minard of National Geographic News posted a segment as part of a National Geographic News series on global water issues that discusses an innovative new use for banana peels.
Believe it or not, banana peels have been found to remove heavy metal contaminants from river water. Many various forms of metal find their way into our waterways, not only contaminating soils, but also posing health risks to humans. Minard traverses many traditionally tried and true methods of metal extraction from water sources, such as silica, cellulose, and aluminum oxide but she also notes that these extraction methods pose possible health risks of their own as well as being expensive to operate.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2011.