Medical use of TV monitor waste

British researchers have found a way to recycle the PVA material from television screens and convert it into a material suitable for use in tissue scaffolds, which help the regeneration of cells in the body. They can also be used in capsules or medicinal fillings intended for the transfer of drugs to certain sites in the human body.

Waste materials from discarded televisions can be recycled and used in medicine - according to a new study conducted by scientists at the University of York.

The chemical compound polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is the most common in the industry and is a key component of televisions with liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. When these devices are thrown away, the LCD screens are often burned or buried in landfills.

Now, several researchers have found a way to recycle the PVA material from television displays and convert it into a material suitable for use in tissue scaffolds, which help the regeneration of cells in the body. They can also be used in capsules or medicinal fillings intended for the transfer of drugs to certain sites in the human body.

The research was conducted by five researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the University of York and was published in the scientific journal Green Chemistry.

Professor James Clark, one of the authors of the article, says: "When there are two and a half billion LCD monitors that have reached the end of their lives and are a popular product today, a huge amount of this type of waste is growing. "It is important to find ways to recycle as many components as possible in LCD televisions so that we don't have to simply throw them away or bury them in landfills."

The researchers developed a method in which recycled material is heated in water in a microwave and washed with ethanol to produce PVA. One of the important features of this substance is the fact that it does not produce an immune response in the body and is therefore useful in the fields of biomedicine.

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