Father-son research team discovers cheatgrass seeds survive wash cycle

Professor Hugh Lefcort and son Caleb examine the cheatgrass in Spokane, Washington. Credit: Gonzaga University

Not many sixth-graders can say they have been published in an academic journal, but Caleb Lefcort can cross that distinction off his list. Caleb got into a discussion with his father, Hugh Lefcort, professor of biology at Gonzaga University, as to whether the seed burrs from cheatgrass would survive the laundry cycle. Hugh believed the seeds would not survive. Instead of simply taking his father's word for it, Caleb -- who was in fourth grade at the time -- suggested the scientific method: an experiment.

The father and son duo set out to determine whether the seeds would survive the wash.
The experiment

Finding cheatgrass seeds was easy. Bromus tectorum (the scientific name for cheatgrass) is nearly ubiquitous in the Inland Northwest and has become an increasing concern throughout North America -- spreading rapidly through the western United States both through natural means and unintended ways, like getting stuck in people's socks and shoes.

"We hypothesized that laundering would impact water potential, and we, therefore, predicted that seeds would exhibit poorer germination and emergence after being laundered," said Hugh. "We also predicted that the effect of laundering would be stronger if bleach was used."

To collect the cheatgrass seeds, Hugh and Caleb walked through a nearby field wearing only socks on their feet. They divided the socks into three different treatments: 1. Not washed or dried; 2. Washed with detergent but not bleach and subsequently dried; and 3. Washed with detergent and bleach and then dried.

The socks that were to be laundered were divided into three different washing machines/detergent/dryer combinations:
1. A Whirlpool washing machine using All brand detergent and Whirlpool dryer;
2. A Samsung washer using Tide brand detergent and a General Electric dryer; and
3. A Maytag machine using Era brand detergent and a Maytag dryer.

Findings

The results of the experiment surprised both Hugh and Caleb.

"There was no significant effect of the different washing machines and their associated laundry detergents and dryers on the number of seeds that sprouted, nor did we find a significant effect of laundry treatments in the number of seeds that germinated," said Hugh.

There was, however, an effect on the seeds that were treated with bleach; they germinated at a slightly slower rate than the other seeds that were tested without bleach. The height of the plants that sprouted from these bleached seeds differed from the height of the plants that experienced the no-bleach-wash treatment.

The research that Hugh and Caleb conducted revealed that cheatgrass seeds and their germination processes are sturdy enough to survive the soaking, soap and agitation of washing machines, the heat of dryers, and often even bleach. Though they designed the study to make it difficult for cheatgrass seeds to germinate, they were surprised at how easily the treated seeds sprouted into plants. Government agencies may consider adding these findings to their public service announcements.

Caleb Lefcort is now a sixth-grader Moran Prairie Elementary School.

Source: Gonzaga University

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Drugs in the environment affect plant growth

Lettuce plants (stock image). The potential for some chemicals to influence plants is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly as waste management systems are unable to remove many compounds from our sewage. Drugs for human use make their way into soil through a number of routes, including the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer and waste water for irrigation.
Credit: © riderfoot / Fotolia

By assessing the impacts of a range of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the research has shown that the growth of edible crops can be affected by these chemicals -- even at the very low concentrations found in the environment.

Published in the Journal of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, the research focused its analysis on lettuce and radish plants and tested the effects of several commonly prescribed drugs, including diclofenac and ibuprofen. These drugs are among the most common and widely used group of pharmaceuticals, with more than 30 million prescribed across the world every day.

The potential for these chemicals to influence plants is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly as waste management systems are unable to remove many compounds from our sewage. Drugs for human use make their way into soil through a number of routes, including the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer and waste water for irrigation.

This study looked for a number of changes in edible plants, assessing factors such as water content, root and shoot length, overall size and how effectively the plants photosynthesised.

Each drug was shown to affect the plants in very specific ways, with marked differences between drugs that are closely related. For example, drugs from the fenamic acid class affected the growth of radish roots, whilst ibuprofen had a significant influence on the early root development of lettuce plants.

Dr Clare Redshaw, one of the scientists leading the project at the Medical School's European Centre for Environment & Human Health, said: "The huge amounts of pharmaceuticals we use ultimately end up in the environment, yet we know very little about their effects on flora and fauna. As populations age and generic medicines become readily available, pharmaceutical use will rise dramatically and it's essential we take steps towards limiting environmental contamination. We haven't considered the impact on human health in this study, but we need to improve our understanding quickly so that appropriate testing and controls can be put in place."

There have been growing concerns about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment, particularly as evidence emerges of the effects they can have on the development of animals and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Yet their ability to affect plant growth is poorly understood.

This study marks an important step in an emerging research field attempting to assess how very low concentrations of drugs can affect the growth of crucial crop plants. It specifically considered the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs tolfenamic acid, meclofenamic acid, mefenamic acid, diclofenac, naproxen and ibuprofen.

Source: University of Exeter

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Put a plastic bag in your tank: Converting polyethylene waste into liquid fuel

Researchers in India have developed a relatively low-temperature process to convert certain kinds of plastic waste into liquid fuel as a way to re-use discarded plastic bags and other products.

Researchers in India have developed a relatively low-temperature process to convert certain kinds of plastic waste into liquid fuel as a way to re-use discarded plastic bags and other products. They report full details next month in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management.

Many pundits describe the present time as the "plastic age" for good reason and as such we generate a lot plastic waste. Among that waste is the common polymer, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which is used to make many types of container, medical and laboratory equipment, computer components and, of course, plastic bags. Recycling initiatives are in place in many parts of the world, but much of the polyethylene waste ends up in landfill, dispersed in the environment or in the sea.

Chemist Achyut Kumar Panda of Centurion University of Technology and Management Odisha, India is working with chemical engineer Raghubansh Kumar Singh of the National Institute of Technology, Orissa, India, to develop a commercially viable technology for efficiently rendering LDPE into a liquid fuel. Given that most plastics are made from petrochemicals, this solution to plastic recycling brings the life-cycle full circle allowing a second use as an oil substitute. The process could, if implemented on a large enough scale, reduce pressures on landfill as well as ameliorating the effects of dwindling oil supplies in a world with increasing demands on petrochemicals for fuel.

In their approach, the team heats the plastic waste to between 400 and 500 Celsius over a kaolin catalyst. This causes the plastic's long chain polymer chains to break apart in a process known as thermo-catalytic degradation. This releases large quantities of much smaller, carbon-rich molecules. The team used the analytical technique of gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry to characterize these product molecules and found the components of their liquid fuel to be mainly paraffins and olefins 10 to 16 carbon atoms long. This, they explain, makes the liquid fuel very similar chemically to conventional petrochemical fuels.

In terms of the catalyst, Kaolin is a clay mineral -- containing aluminum and silicon. It acts as a catalyst by providing a large reactive surface on which the polymer molecules can sit and so be exposed to high temperature inside the batch reactor, which breaks them apart. The team optimized the reaction at 450 Celsius a temperature with the lowest amount of kaolin at which more than 70% of the liquid fuel is produced. In other words, for every kilogram of waste plastic they could produce 700 grams of liquid fuel. The byproducts were combustible gases and wax. They could boost the yield to almost 80% and minimize reaction times, but this required a lot more catalyst 1 kg of kaolin for every 2 kg of plastic.

Source: Inderscience Publishers

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Scientists uncover hidden river of rubbish threatening to devastate wildlife

The sheer amount of plastic recovered shows there is an unseen stream of rubbish flowing through London which could be a serious threat to aquatic wildlife. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Royal Holloway London

Thousands of pieces of plastic have been discovered, submerged along the river bed of the upper Thames Estuary by scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Natural History Museum.

The sheer amount of plastic recovered shows there is an unseen stream of rubbish flowing through London which could be a serious threat to aquatic wildlife. The findings, published online in Marine Pollution Bulletin, highlight the cause for concern, not only for ecosystems around the river but for the North Sea, in to which the Thames flows.

Using nets designed to catch Chinese mitten crabs, Royal Holloway and the Natural History Museum scientists documented rubbish collected during a three-month trial. More than 8,000 pieces of plastic were collected, including large numbers of cigarette packaging, food wrappers and cups, but more than a fifth of waste was made up of sanitary products.

Dr Dave Morritt, a Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology at Royal Holloway and co-author of the study says: "The unusual aspect of the study is that these nets are originally designed to trap fish and crabs moving along the river bed, so we can see that the majority of this litter is hidden below the surface. This underwater litter must be taken into account when predicting the amount of pollution entering our rivers and seas, not just those items that we can see at the surface and washed up on shore. The potential impacts this could have for wildlife are far reaching: not only are the species that live in and around the river affected, but also those in seas that rivers feed into."

The waste collected for the study is only a small snapshot of the volume of litter which may exist at the bottom of the Thames. Plastic bags and other large items were unlikely to get caught in the small nets so the true extent of the problem is still unknown.

Dr Paul Clark, a researcher, at the Natural History Museum and co-author of the study says: "All of this waste, which was mostly plastic, was hidden underwater so Londoners probably don't realise that it's there. Plastic can have a damaging impact on underwater life. Large pieces can trap animals but smaller pieces can be in advertently eaten. This litter moves up and down the river bed depending on tides. The movement causes the pieces of plastic to break down into smaller fragments. These are small enough to be eaten by even the smallest animals, which are in turn eaten by larger fish and birds. Once digested, plastic can release toxic chemicals which are then passed through the food chain. These toxic chemicals, in high doses, could harm the health of wildlife."

Scientists are increasingly pressing for changes to both policy and consumer behaviours, as the dangers of plastics become more apparent.

Source: University of Royal Holloway London

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Artisanal gold mining and its health risks

searchers from the UPM have characterized the health risks derived from the usage of mercury in artisanal gold mining in Colombia through probabilistic models.

Researchers from the UPM have characterized the health risks derived from the usage of mercury in artisanal gold mining in Colombia through probabilistic models.

The tools developed by researchers from the Environmental Geochemistry Research and Engineering Laboratory (LI2GA) of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) have given evidences of their quantitative efficiency to problems about occupational and environmental exposures to pollutants. These tools will allow researchers to categorize risk situations and to give priority to the intervention performances, especially in regions with limited financial resources where is more complex to conduct rigorous clinical studies.

Artisanal gold mining is common in Latin-American regions, Africa and Southeast Asia where there are large socio-economic inequalities and active or abandoned goldfields. This activity is performed outside of the workplace health and safety regulations. Therefore, miners can be at risk due to possible accidents during the exploitation of deposits and due to chronic exposure to mercury. This risk of mercury poisoning is not just limited to workers but also the entire population of the mining communities.

Mercury is a toxic element that can cause neurological disorders in humans or other organism. Common exposures include inhalation of elemental mercury or consumption of fish contaminated with mercury. Mercury from artisanal gold mining is used to concentrate gold in an amalgam of both elements. Later, it is burned in order to rid of the mercury and to recover the gold. During this amalgamation process, accidental and intentional discharges of mercury can occur.

Mercury eventually ends up in nearby rivers and, consequently, in the fish tissues. The problem is that fish constitutes an essential part of the diet for the mining communities included in this research. Likewise, amalgam burning is made in small workshops, sometimes in houses. All this can cause mercury pollution in the air of workplaces, houses and outer areas of these communities.

Researchers from LI2GA of UPM collected data about biometrics, lifestyle and consumption of 12 gold mining departments in Colombia. They also collected mercury concentration air data of in the amalgamation workshops, air data of the roads of these mining communities and also data of the diverse fish species of the area.

All this data along with the quantitative data of potential toxicity of mercury were conducted by probabilistic risk assessment. The results unveiled the mercury exposure dose in these mining communities exceeded the admissible values, even reaching 200 times higher of the reference values in certain maximum exposure situations.

The general population is also exposed to unacceptable risk to health (up to 50 times higher than the recommended values) due to consumption of contaminated fish and breathing mercury vapor in the air.

The probabilistic risk assessment cannot replace the clinical research to control public health and intervention. However, it can be a useful tool to characterize and to highlight these problems in order to give priority to corrective performances.

Source:  Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

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Recovering metals and minerals from waste

When water and wastewater systems are developed in a comprehensive manner, it is possible to recover valuable metals and other materials and secure availability of clean water.

Scarcity of clean water is one of the most serious global challenges. In its spearhead programme, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland developed energy-efficient methods for reuse of water in industrial processes and means for recovering valuable minerals and materials from waste for recycling. Rapid tools were also developed for identification of environmental pollutants.

When water and wastewater systems are developed in a comprehensive manner, it is possible to recover valuable metals and other materials and secure availability of clean water. Cleaning and treatment processes can also be linked to energy production, and the processes and urban structures designed in such a manner that wastewater treatment does not consume energy or cause extra costs.

"Wastewater treatment and waste treatment have mainly been implemented by legal necessity. Now we should modify our way of thinking so that we would be able to regard waste disposal sites and purification plants as sources or raw materials and energy. In the near future, technology has been refined far enough to allow such waste treatment plants to operate on their own," says Mona Arnold, Principal Researcher at VTT.

Recycling valuable minerals and materials

Demand has arisen for technologies capable of recovering even tiny amounts of minerals from waste flows. Recovering them from municipal or mining wastewaters requires better recovery methods than those available today. VTT has developed extraction methods for metals and minerals from waste materials. Biological extraction methods by which metals are recovered from mining, metal and recycling industry waste by utilising microbes and chemical reactions are under testing stages and they are forcasted for market uptake within the next few years.

Other valuable elements can also be found from waste flows. For example, the food industry by-product flows contain biochemicals and proteins that can be utilised better than is currently possible, if only they could be effectively recovered from waste. One possibility is to use enzymes. VTT researchers developed an enzyme-assisted method by which feed products can be produced from side streams deriving from turnip rape processing in food industry.

Reducing energy consumption in water treatment

Treatment of water in purification plants and industrial facilities consumes vast amounts of energy. Usually water recycling and seawater desalination are based on the use of filtration membranes that consume energy. VTT developed intelligent membrane materials, reducing the need of purification, for filtration purposes.

Membrane solutions using only small amounts of energy were developed for water treatment purposes. VTT has collaborated with a university in Singapore to develop a method based on forward osmosis technology, by which metals and biocomponents can be recovered and concentrated from industrial process waters.

The pumping and distribution of water to consumers and industry also consumes major amounts of energy. The need for pumping can be minimised if the process water can be recirculated within the plant, and the distribution network is made more effective by enhanced monitoring and location of leaks.

Sensors for identifying environmental hazards

The VTT spearhead programme also developed sensor technology for easy and rapid detection of pollutants. VTT indicators facilitate rapid identification of, for example, small but hazardous cyanobacterial toxin levels and phenolic, hormone-like compounds. There is need for such indicators in developing countries, suffering from lack of trained personnel and laboratories. The technology will be ready for production use within the next few years.

Source: Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).

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A new look at what's in 'fracking' fluids raises red flags: Some compounds toxic to mammals

Scientists are getting to the bottom of what’s in fracking fluids — with some troubling results.
Credit: Doug Duncan/U.S. Geological Survey

As the and gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") proliferates, a new study on the contents of the fluids involved in the process raises concerns about several ingredients. The scientists presenting the work today at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) say that out of nearly 200 commonly used compounds, there's very little known about the potential health risks of about one-third, and eight are toxic to mammals.

William Stringfellow, Ph.D., says he conducted the review of fracking contents to help resolve the public debate over the controversial drilling practice. Fracking involves injecting water with a mix of chemical additives into rock formations deep underground to promote the release of oil and gas. It has led to a natural gas boom in the U.S., but it has also stimulated major opposition and troubling reports of contaminated well water, as well as increased air pollution near drill sites.

"The industrial side was saying, 'We're just using food additives, basically making ice cream here,'" Stringfellow says. "On the other side, there's talk about the injection of thousands of toxic chemicals.

As scientists, we looked at the debate and asked, 'What's the real story?'"
To find out, Stringfellow's team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of the Pacific scoured databases and reports to compile a list of substances commonly used in fracking. They include gelling agents to thicken the fluids, biocides to keep microbes from growing, sand to prop open tiny cracks in the rocks and compounds to prevent pipe corrosion.

What their analysis revealed was a little truth to both sides' stories -- with big caveats. Fracking fluids do contain many nontoxic and food-grade materials, as the industry asserts. But if something is edible or biodegradable, it doesn't automatically mean it can be easily disposed of, Stringfellow notes.
"You can't take a truckload of ice cream and dump it down the storm drain," he says, building on the industry's analogy. "Even ice cream manufacturers have to treat dairy wastes, which are natural and biodegradable. They must break them down rather than releasing them directly into the environment."
His team found that most fracking compounds will require treatment before being released. And, although not in the thousands as some critics suggest, the scientists identified eight substances, including biocides, that raised red flags. These eight compounds were identified as being particularly toxic to mammals.

"There are a number of chemicals, like corrosion inhibitors and biocides in particular, that are being used in reasonably high concentrations that potentially could have adverse effects," Stringfellow says. "Biocides, for example, are designed to kill bacteria -- it's not a benign material."

They're also looking at the environmental impact of the fracking fluids, and they are finding that some have toxic effects on aquatic life.

In addition, for about one-third of the approximately 190 compounds the scientists identified as ingredients in various fracking formulas, the scientists found very little information about toxicity and physical and chemical properties.

"It should be a priority to try to close that data gap," Stringfellow says.
He acknowledges funding from the University of the Pacific, the Bureau of Land Management and the state of California.

Source: American Chemical Society (ACS)

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The Wastewater injection is culprit for most earthquakes in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, study finds

The deep injection of wastewater underground is responsible for the dramatic rise in the number of earthquakes in Colorado and New Mexico since 2001, according to a study to be published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA).


The Raton Basin, which stretches from southern Colorado into northern New Mexico, was seismically quiet until shortly after major fluid injection began in 1999. Since 2001, there have been 16 magnitude > 3.8 earthquakes (including M 5.0 and 5.3), compared to only one (M 4.0) the previous 30 years. The increase in earthquakes is limited to the area of industrial activity and within 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of wastewater injection wells.

In 1994, energy companies began producing coal-bed methane in Colorado and expanded production to New Mexico in 1999. Along with the production of methane, there is the production of wastewater, which is injected underground in disposal wells and can raise the pore pressure in the surrounding area, inducing earthquakes. Several lines of evidence suggest the earthquakes in the area are directly related to the disposal of wastewater, a by-product of extracting methane, and not to hydraulic fracturing occurring in the area.

Beginning in 2001, the production of methane expanded, with the number of high-volume wastewater disposal wells increasing (21 presently in Colorado and 7 in New Mexico) along with the injection rate. Since mid-2000, the total injection rate across the basin has ranged from 1.5 to 3.6 million barrels per month.

The authors, all scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, detail several lines of evidence directly linking the injection wells to the seismicity. The timing and location of seismicity correspond to the documented pattern of injected wastewater. Detailed investigations of two seismic sequences (2001 and 2011) places them in proximity to high-volume, high-injection-rate wells, and both sequences occurred after a nearby increase in the rate of injection. A comparison between seismicity and wastewater injection in Colorado and New Mexico reveals similar patterns, suggesting seismicity is initiated shortly after an increase in injection rates.

Source: Seismological Society of America

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