The Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge is jointly run by the Elsevier Foundation and Elsevier’s chemistry journals team. The Challenge is open to individuals and non-profit organizations whose projects use green and sustainable chemistry solutions to tackle some of the developing world’s greatest sustainability challenges whether in water, sanitation or energy. The 2017 first prize winner use flora native to Brazil and castor oil to produce environmentally friendly larvicidals to combat mosquitos carrying diseases such as Dengue fever and Zika virus. The second prize was awarded to a project where organic nutrients such as animal excreta are added to the soil to improve oil-polluted site ecorestoration.
Flora native to Brazil such as cashew nuts, combined with castor oil, can be successfully used to produce environmentally friendly larvicidals to combat mosquito carrying diseases such as Dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika virus. Dr. Pires de Lima is developing an inexpensive and sustainable alternative to conventional insecticides, which are harmful for humans, animals and beneficial insects. His team’s project was selected from more than 700 proposals to win the 2017 Elsevier Foundation Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge – a competition that stimulates innovative chemistry research that helps the environment and low-resource communities.
