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Most mosquito repellents contain the active ingredient DEET (Photo: F.A.Z. Purchase Compass).
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Biological degradation of mosquito repellents only ...
August 22, 2024

Microorganisms in biofilms in rivers can break down harmful substances. Some are also able to degrade biocides, including the insect repellent diethyltoluamide (DEET) - or so it is thought. Researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag have now discovered that DEET is degraded better when the proportion of treated wastewater in the water is high. They attribute this to specific enzymes that occur primarily where wastewater treatment plants return the water to the aquatic environment. However, the enzymes involved are not straightforward to predict.
Fish are often used in experiments. Machine learning could be an alternative to fish testing (Photo: AdobeStock).
News
Predicting the toxicity of chemicals with AI
July 18, 2024

Researchers at Eawag and the Swiss Data Science Center have trained AI algorithms with a comprehensive ecotoxicological dataset.
Joanna Houska at the award ceremony with Prof. Thomas Ternes, at the Annual Meeting of the German Water Chemistry Society in Limburg (photo: Nina Hermes, BfG).
News
Prize-winning thesis: oxidation done properly!
July 17, 2024

Environmental chemist Joanna Houska has received an award for her doctoral thesis from the German Water Chemistry Society. She conducted her research at Eawag and EPFL, demonstrating both theoretically and experimentally how oxidative water treatment using ozone or chlorine can be more efficiently utilized when there is a precise understanding of the organic substances dissolved in the water to be treated.
Drawing Anne Dietzel, Eawag.
News
Pesticides in water bodies - there is still work to be ...
July 9, 2024

The VSA Water Quality Platform and Eawag have analysed the effects to date of the measures taken under the "Action Plan for Risk Reduction and Sustainable Use of Pesticides" on water quality. The number of limit value exceedances has decreased significantly since 2019. Nevertheless, many kilometres of rivers and streams are still contaminated. Pyrethroids pose a particularly high risk to watercourses.
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