The Director of the Industrial Scientific Research Support Fund, affiliated to the Scientific Research Support Fund, Rima Ras, praised the results of a Master's Thesis presented by pharmacist, Wassim Mahyoub at the University of Petra (UOP), for a technique that relies on using olive leaves to get rid of toxic lead in drinking water.
Ras saw that the research opens the door to promising application projects, noting that the subject of the scientific thesis falls within national priorities, which aim to exploit the local resources available in Jordan to find products of high value and efficiency that help solve national problems related to the environment and water sector.
Mahyoub discussed the majestic aspects of his thesis before a committee of specialists, which included the thesis supervisor, Dr. Faisal Al-Akayleh, the co-supervisor, Dr. Mayas Al-Rimawi, and the examiners, Dr. Majed Fadda, Dr. Abdel Moneim Twaiq as well as Dr. Khaled Aida (external examiner from the University of Jordan).
Furthermore, Mahyoub presented in his thesis a way to develop a material to filter drinking water and clean it from toxic heavy metals such as lead by treating olive leaf in order to increase its ability to absorb lead very quickly and with high efficiency.
From the Faculty of Engineering at UOP, Dr. Nidal Hussein stressed the results of the Master's Thesis, emphasizing the importance of developing the research and accessing concrete applications and products based on this study.
The researcher worked on treating the olive leaves, turning them into non-friable tablets, and then placing them in drinking water containing toxic lead. The laboratory tests showed that the tablets were able to quickly absorb lead from the water and purify it. According to the thesis supervisors, this is an introduction to the use of new materials for the production of filters to purify drinking water from heavy metals.
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Adham, Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy and a number of Faculty professors and master's students attended the discussion.