SC State Researchers Led by Dr. Waltena Simpson Look at Oil Clean-Up Solution for Gulf
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Posted By: autumn cade on July 22, 2010 It's a process you may have been watching for weeks--the cleanup of newly-patched oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. "What BP is concentrating on right now is containing the oil spill itself. They're trying to burn the oil away to get rid of it, and that's a process that could produce more environmental contaminants," said South Carolina State University Microbiology professor Dr. Waltena Simpson. There are contaminants you can't see. "Pollutants are produced that can be carcinogenic and pose hazards to human health," Simpson says. She says the pollutants aren't going anywhere. "They tend to stay in the environment and persist for very long periods of time, so it's very important for the sake of the environment and for the sake of people living in the environment for those contaminants to be removed as quickly and as safely and effectively as possible," Simpson said. That's where Dr. Simpson's abilities comes in. Right now, she's working with strains of a bacteria called sphingomonas, found naturally in soil. "We saw that they had an ability to break down a variety of environmental contaminants, which made them very interesting to us," Simpson says. More than just interesting, they could potentially be an eco-friendly clean-up tool. "What they can do is provide a low-cost, natural way of trying to remove harmful contaminants from the gulf," Simpson says. She and her staff are results in the lab. "The clear zone that we see around the sphingamonas shown here in yellow indicates pH degradation," Simpson said. Though she says it appears that the sphingamonas is doing its job, she will continue researching the process for the next three years. In the meantime, Dr. Simpson is watching the gulf from afar. "You realize that they're trying to get rid of the oil, but you also know that this way of trying to remove a problem is also possibly going to create even more problems," Simpson says. She's hoping she's close to finding their solutions. Dr. Simpson's project is linked with the Savannah River Site. Now, they're in the process of getting samples from the gulf so Simpson can test her strains of bacteria. http://www.wltx.com/news/local/story.aspx?... If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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autumn cade
Cal St Univ, Long Beach class of 2015 Member Since June 2010 |
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