EcoMe is a reusable, ecological and affordable menstrual protection product aimed for developing regions. The qualities of the menstrual pad are based on an interdisciplinary research. A user survey was conducted in three Asian regions: Mongolia, Azerbaijan and China. From the results, limitations and preferences towards an ideal menstrual product were obtained and further used in the design of the product. Different materials were explored and the decision on using sea sponge as an absorbing material is based on the most important qualities of the material: absorbance, drying time and cleansing. In addition, an informative mobile application was created. The mobile application includes information about topics such as puberty, menstruation and contraception.
A novel advanced treatment process for the removal of antibiotics from wastewater
Antibiotics are emerging pollutants due to their continuous input in the ecosystem, resulting in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which cause immunity to antibiotics. To prevent this contamination the use of sorbents seems promising. Biochar can be characterized as low-cost sorbent from agriculture, that can deliver solutions to a wide spectrum of challenges related to the release of antibiotics .This study aims to examine the sorption of seven antibiotic compounds, by two biochars produced, sludge and manure. Adsorption kinetic experiments were performed. UPLC-MS-MS measured residual antibiotics in solutions with the % removal being calculated. The research took place between July2018 and Feb2019 by high school students in Cyprus under surveillance of the Nireas-IWRC, University of Cyprus.