Slick solution for oil spills
Article Abstract:
Hollow glass beads coated with titanium dioxide, sunlight and natural microbial action may be useful for cleaning up oil spills. A. Heller and colleagues suggest that photocatalytically active titanium dioxide will speed up the oil's natural oxidation by solar radiation. This oxidation will break the oil down into substances that can then be consumed by microorganisms, although the rate of sunlight-assisted biodegradation will probably vary depending on the efficiency of the catalyst and other factors. Although many questions remain, this technology merits careful evaluation.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Poor prospects for oiled birds
Article Abstract:
Research suggests that only 1-20% of guillemot seabirds survive for more than a year after being caught in an oil slick and cleaned and released, compared with a survival rate of more than 90% for healthy guillemots. Oiled guillemots are usually externally cleaned with household detergent by two people for 45 minutes, with pressure rinsing used to restore waterproofing. Studies of the velvet scoter sea-duck and western grebe produce similar results. Conservational value is limited, but organizations are likely to feel compelled to pursue clean-up operations.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Oil from bombed plant left to spill
Article Abstract:
Biologists are trying to assess the damage done by the fuel oil leaked by the Jiyyeh power plant into the Mediterranean Sea. Environmentalists are worried that an untreated spill can cause lasting harm to the wildlife and the failure to start a swift clean up in Lebanon might harm the region's threatened leatherback, loggerhead and green turtles.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2006
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Evolution of magma-poor continental margins from rifting to seafloor spreading. Mineral disequilibrium in lavas explained by convective self-mixing in open magma chambers
- Abstracts: Alaska backs down on wolf kill. From "Murder King" to "Wicked Wendy's". Wendy's less wicked
- Abstracts: The role of animal shelters. Animal rights classics
- Abstracts: Crazy crisis for Christmas. Floods, flames and foxes
- Abstracts: Electrical bursting of islet beta cells. ATP and chloride conductance. No electrostatic sense in snakes