New weapon against harmful algal blooms

Effective management of phosphorus is needed to curb the rise of harmful algal blooms. Few studies have explored how algal biomass, especially blue-green algae, can be used to create materials that remove phosphate from water. Researchers have filled that gap by transforming cyanobacterial biomass into materials that can pull harmful phosphorus out of water. Materials treated in the study removed more than 99% of phosphorus. With further refinement and scalability, this method could become a key tool for managing nutrient pollution.