A high school student in Virginia has built a filtration system that removes more than 95 percent of microplastics from drinking water. Her approach uses a magnetic liquid, ferrofluid, to pull tiny plastic particles out of the flow, without relying on traditional filter membranes.
The idea comes at a time when microplastics are turning up almost everywhere scientists look. From oceans to human organs, their spread is raising concerns, even if the full health impact is still being studied.
In Warrington, Virginia, water contamination made the issue hard to ignore. Local reports pointed to the presence of PFAS and microplastics, leaving residents to handle filtration on their own. That situation pushed Mia Heller, a student at Kettle Run High School, to start experimenting with a different kind of…