Only a bake away

A new technology for cleaning up hazardous waste may be as simple as a cooking remedy.
The Canadian Water Quality Association reports in its Communique that the U.S. Department of Defense has a grant to study a system that uses sugar made from cornstarch to clean up groundwater. The system is intended to remove a wide range of toxic materials using cyclodextrim.
Cyclodextrim is non-toxic and can be left underground without causing harm. Known chemically as cyclicoligosaccharides, the substances were discovered a century ago and have been used in the pharmaceutical industry to make drugs more soluble. Because of the chemical structure of chyclodestrim, many toxic materials like solvents, pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are attracted to it.