Difference between revisions of "Team:NCHU Taichung/Description"

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         <h2 class="ui dividing header">Dioxin as a world problem: Vietnam War</h2>
 
         <h2 class="ui dividing header">Dioxin as a world problem: Vietnam War</h2>
        <p>During Vietnam War, the herbicide, Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military as a defoliant. Agent Orange contains
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<p> When we keep on searching about dioxin contamination in the soil, we found a historical tragedy about dioxin exposure that motivated us to dig into it.
          TCDD, which is the most toxic of the dioxins. The use of Agent Orange has left serious and long-term health impacts
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          upon the Vietnamese people and their offspring. </p>
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<p>During Vietnam War, the herbicide, Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military as a defoliant. Agent Orange contains TCDD, which is the most toxic of the dioxins. The use of Agent Orange has left serious and long-term health impacts upon the Vietnamese people and their offspring.</p>
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<p>We went to <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Team:NCHU_Taichung/Human_Practices/Introduction">Vietnam</a>. We found the amount of contaminated land is very big. Subject to the lack of financial support, most of the land still remain contaminated.
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         <h2 class="ui dividing header">The main problem: dioxin contaminated soil</h2>
 
         <h2 class="ui dividing header">The main problem: dioxin contaminated soil</h2>

Revision as of 00:03, 18 October 2018

NCHU_Taichung

Description

Where our ideas come from: dioxin in our daily life

Dioxins are a group of toxic compounds, also are persistent environmental pollutants (POPs). Exposed in dioxin can lead to serious health damage, such as disrupting immune system, interfering with hormones, and causing cancer.

Simply burning anything composed of plastics could release dioxins. Dioxins could only be fully break down under the temperature higher than 850°C. Uncontrolled waste incineration and backyard burning give a high amount of dioxins emission. Realizing that dioxins are extremely dangerous, and close to our lives, it raised our interest. Thus we went to Houli Refuse Incinerator Plant.

We found that the complexity of waste would lead to incomplete combustion and incomplete breaking down dioxins. The ash produced from burning waste might still contain dioxins. Then, the ash will eventually made in to concrete product such as bricks, and be placed back to our land.

Dioxin as a world problem: Vietnam War

When we keep on searching about dioxin contamination in the soil, we found a historical tragedy about dioxin exposure that motivated us to dig into it.

During Vietnam War, the herbicide, Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military as a defoliant. Agent Orange contains TCDD, which is the most toxic of the dioxins. The use of Agent Orange has left serious and long-term health impacts upon the Vietnamese people and their offspring.

We went to Vietnam. We found the amount of contaminated land is very big. Subject to the lack of financial support, most of the land still remain contaminated.

The main problem: dioxin contaminated soil

To find out possible resolution to clear dioxin in large size of land, we looked into another case of dioxin contamination, China Petrochemical Development Corporation (CPDC) An-Shun site, located in Tainan City, Taiwan.

Our method: Engineered Endophyte-Assisted Phytoremediation

In former research, an endophyte, Burkholderia cenocepacia 869T2, has been isolated from the plant, Vetiver, in the contaminated land in Tainan, and proved having the ability to break down TCDD.

Future vision: eco-friendly and cost-efficient

From burning waste to Agent Orange,

…..

To create an eco-friendly and cost-efficiency solution……