Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a process to remove pollutants from plastic production with selective combustion, according to a press release from the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

The process involves engineering certain materials to only react to one molecule found in a mixture of hydrogen and carbon atoms, called hydrocarbons, and effectively removing toxic pollutants found in different plastics.

Aditya Bhan, a CSE professor, said that when producing plastics, the materials can end up with small impurities that can be harmful to humans and the environment.

The team developed catalysts, a substance that initiates an explosion, that only react to acetylene, a highly flammable, colorless gas found in plastics, leaving the rest of the material untouched, said Matt Jacob, a graduate student working on the project.

“You don’t think of combustion as a selective process. You burn a mixture and everything burns,” Jacob said. “But this is a case where we can take a mixture and only burn one of the molecules.”

When developing polyethylene, a polymer used to make moldable types of plastic used in day-to-day objects like water bottles, shopping bags and containers, scientists start with a single molecule called ethylene, the building block of most plastics, Bhan said. 

Scientists then take the single ethylene molecule and combine it with other ethylene molecules. The process involves stitching the molecules together to create long chains of polymers with a catalyst.

If acetylene is not removed, a polymer cannot be stitched together because it is such a highly flammable material, Bhan said. 

There is already a process to remove toxins from polymers, called depolymerization, Bhan said, but the process is very expensive and uses a lot of energy.

Jacob said roughly one million metric tons of plastic polymers are made per year, so a new process to remove toxins would make a big impact.

“Maybe it’s only 1% more economically viable, but if you make a 1% impact, it’s going to have a pretty big impact on the energy that you need to use to actually make those molecules or those plastics,” Jacob said.

Bhan said it is necessary to clean up about 20 kilograms of ethylene per person on Earth, since it is an air pollutant and a carcinogen.

The process Bhan and his team are working on could reduce the intensity of the removal process and lessen the carbon footprint of toxin removal.

Jacob said the work they are doing could also streamline the process, especially as they further determine what molecules respond well to the catalyst.

“Say you have a waste stream in that chemical plant that has a composition with one of those trace contaminants that your catalyst has reacted to, then you can target that waste and clean it up,” Jacob said. “We’re trying to generalize it more, but that’s definitely a work in progress.”

The team has worked specifically on removing toxins from plastics, but they are expanding the research to other materials such as medications and fuels, Bhan said.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health are studying how nicotine reduction in cigarettes could impact smokers, according to a press release from the University.

The University found that participants who smoked cigarettes with a lower nicotine content ended up smoking less.

Lead researcher Joe Koopmeiners said he and his research partner, David Vock, gave people who smoked cigarettes a normal nicotine content and gave others cigarettes with a much lower nicotine content to see how lower nicotine content influenced people’s smoking habits. The research focuses on cigarette usage and does not include other products that contain nicotine, like vapes.

“These trials have all shown that by giving people cigarettes with reduced nicotine content, people will reduce their tobacco use in as short as six weeks,” Koopmeiners said.

Koopmeiners said the FDA wants to mandate the maximum amount of nicotine that can be in a cigarette, as there currently is no limit for nicotine content. The FDA proposed to limit the nicotine content of cigarettes to 0.7 milligrams per gram of tobacco in January 2025, as the average cigarette contains roughly 10 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco.

There is usually one gram of tobacco in each cigarette, according to the European Code Against Cancer.

Koopmeiners said they are taking their research a step further to answer whether nicotine reduction helps people quit smoking, or if it simply decreases the amount of cigarettes individuals smoke per day.

Vock said it is important to look at how nicotine affects different subpopulations, in addition to the general public. People with mental health conditions, for example, might react poorly to cigarettes with less nicotine because they use them as a coping mechanism.  

“If the government decides that we’re going to set a policy of nicotine reduction in cigarettes, everyone has to undergo nicotine reduction,” Vock said. “You might say, on average, this policy seems to help people reduce the amount they smoke, but how does it impact certain vulnerable subpopulations? Are they going to be worse off because they have less nicotine, which they might use as a coping mechanism?”

The team is also looking at how nicotine reduction impacts different age groups and smokers who take other prescription medications, Vock said. 

The team used data collected from the Center for the Evaluation of Nicotine and Cigarettes over the last 13 years, in addition to data from other studies from across the country. The data was initially collected for different studies at the University and other institutions around the country, but all track how smokers react to nicotine reduction. 

Koopmeiners said the researchers are currently working on synthesizing the data.

“It’s a challenging process, just because the way data are collected is slightly different across all the projects,” Koopmeiners said.

Koopmeiners said, ultimately, he hopes their research will inform policymakers about how nicotine reduction in products helps people smoke less and decrease the risks of cancer and other chronic diseases.

A research team at the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences examined how a person’s diet impacts their gut microbiome through fecal microbiota transplants, or FMTs, according to a University press release.

FMTs are used to cure or provide relief for a multitude of conditions, including Crohn’s disease, ulcers in the colon and rectum, metabolic disorders and immune disorders, Levi Teigen, the study’s lead author, said. 

Amanda Kabage, who works in microbiota therapeutics at CFANS, said the gut microbiome is considered a living organ consisting of bacteria, viruses and fungi living in the gut. 

The transplant consists of taking a fecal transplant from a healthy donor and making it into a pill with microbes separated from the donor’s feces, Teigen said. The pill is administered orally or via colonoscopy, depending on the patient’s health.

If a patient has a chronic illness, like Crohn’s, it is recommended to receive the pill via colonoscopy.

For the pills to withstand stomach acids and make it to the intestines, patients do not eat for several days before and after taking the pill so the treatment works, Kabage said. 

Kabage said becoming a stool donor for FMTs is very difficult. A donor needs to maintain a good diet that promotes gut health by eating lots of fiber and fermented foods. 

Teigen said fiber is important to the diet because it takes longer for the body to break down. 

“The more processed something is, the more rapidly it’s able to be absorbed and so a lot of food can be absorbed in just the small intestine and nothing makes it to the large intestine,” Teigen said. “Fiber is important to be eating to help make it to feed the microbes.”

In addition to eating high fiber or fermented foods, Teigen said eating whole or unprocessed foods is another way to maintain good gut health. 

The microbes from the healthy gut are then introduced to the patient’s microbiome to foster a healthier gut ecosystem, Teigen said. When creating the pills, scientists carefully craft them to contain a specific amount of microbes to fit each patient’s unique needs and conditions. 

“It very much mimics a drug,” Teigen said. “You can give a specific dose of microbes, but the microbes are still, in fact, the complete community of microbes that are found in stool.”

Scientists are still working to understand the differences between a healthy gut microbiome and an unhealthy one, but a healthier gut has diverse microbes and bacteria, Kabage said. 

“In diseases like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s, it’s harder to change the microbiome because you’re fighting against what you already have,” Kabage said. “So while there is potentially less diversity, donations from a healthy donor try to push past that and make it more diverse.”

In the study, Teigen said he and his team are trying to figure out if a healthy gut diet for both the donor and patient will continue to improve the patient’s gut health post-transplant.

“We’re not exactly sure what effect the microbiome is having,” Teigen said. “The impact could be as simple as a specific function of the microbiome getting transplanted, regardless of how many specific microbes from the donor stuck around as long as this one specific function is provided. We’re still trying to figure it out.”

Renowned researcher from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, Rachel Hardeman, announced her resignation amidst plagiarism allegations earlier this week. 

A former colleague of Hardeman’s, Brigette Davis, posted on LinkedIn on Monday, accusing her of plagiarizing her dissertation about birth outcomes in a grant submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Davis said her dissertation was copied word-for-word with a few changes to fit Hardeman’s grant. 

“When I say ‘verbatim’ I mean, she performed a find+replace in my document, and replaced all instances of ‘Mike Brown’ with ‘Philando Castile,’ and all instances of ‘St. Louis, Missouri,’ with ‘Minneapolis, Minnesota,’ and submitted this to the NIH as if it were her own,” Davis said in the LinkedIn post. 

Hardeman studied health and racial equality and was the director of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, where she researched health inequities between races. Time Magazine also included her in its list of 100 Most Influential People in 2024. 

Davis said in the post that the theft occurred in 2019 but did not learn about it until 2023 when Hardeman invited her to join her team in working on the project she plagiarized from Davis. 

Hardeman denied the allegations in a statement to the Minnesota Daily on Wednesday. 

“The allegations against me are completely false. I made a mistake in not attributing something – I am human – and when it was brought to my attention, I corrected it immediately,” Hardeman said. 

Jake Ricker, a representative from the University, confirmed the complaint against Hardeman in an email to the Minnesota Daily, but could not provide further details because of privacy laws. 

Davis said Hardeman invited her to leave her postdoctoral fellowship to work on the project at the University. Upon reading the project proposal, she found the grant to be very similar to her work.

“Imagine my shock and disbelief when reviewing the proposal for my new project at my new job, to find my words, my equations, my grammatical mistakes, even my funny formatting decisions I’d done to add emphasis,” Davis said.