coral 33.cor.1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Chemicals used to disperse marine oil slicks may harm corals more than the oil itself does, according to a new study. The finding suggests that chemical dispersants should be used near reefs only as a last resort, when oil approaches a shoreline where it might devastate wildlife and plants for decades.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET

In many cases, authorities first try to clean up oil spills mechanically (SN: 11/18/06, p. 325). If weather conditions are too rough or a slick threatens to wash up on shore, dispersants are usually the next option. Made up of surfactants and solvents, dispersants act as detergents, breaking up oil into droplets that mix into water, scatter with currents, and eventually degrade. However, the dispersed oil droplets readily sink and can lethally contaminate coral.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET

Baruch Rinkevich of the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa, Israel, and his colleagues tested whether chemical dispersants, as well as oil droplets, do harm to corals. They report that dispersants kill branching corals or retard their growth. The team also confirms previous research indicating that corals do better when exposed to oil that hasn't been dispersed.

"Dispersants are very toxic for corals," Rinkevich says. "It's a no-win situation, but more knowledge [will add to officials'] evaluation and decisions about what to do in unpredictable situations."

To test the effects of the dispersants, the researchers pruned 2-inch segments from the branches of two common hard coral species found in the Red Sea and grew them into several large colonies in laboratory tanks. The team then added to the tanks various concentrations of crude oil, one of six commercial dispersants mixed with oil, or one of the six dispersants alone. After allowing 24-hour exposure to the substances, researchers washed the corals, simulating what would happen in the real environment when oil and dispersants wash away. The team then measured coral survival and growth weekly for 50 days.

After 1 week, more than 90 percent of one coral species and about 75 percent of the other survived in the oil-only tanks, whereas virtually all coral died in the tanks containing either the dispersant-oil mix or the dispersant alone. After 50 days, more than 90 percent of the surviving corals from the oil-only tanks continued to grow. Almost all coral from the dispersed-oil and the dispersant-only tanks experienced retarded growth.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET

The study appears in the Aug. 1 Environmental Science & Technology.

Amy Merten, codirector of the Coastal Response Research Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, says that the results contradict the rule of thumb that dispersants are less toxic than oil droplets. It's important for authorities in charge of spill cleanups to note that coral reacts to the dispersant itself, she says. "There needs to be more consideration of dispersants." However, Merten adds that under real conditions, coral may not be exposed to dispersants in the same amount, and for the same duration, that it was in the laboratory tests.

dogs and horses

From around 5,700 to 5,100 years ago, a group known as the Botai populated the harsh Asian terrain of what is now northern Kazakhstan. Researchers know little about daily life or spiritual beliefs among the Botai. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

Ongoing excavations at a Botai settlement indicate that these hardy people embraced certain mythological themes and ritual practices that became widespread in later Eurasian cultures as far away as India.

For example, the Botai people probably used dogs to guard their homes—large, covered cavities in the ground known as pit houses—and treated deceased dogs as spiritual guardians of their households, says project director Sandra L. Olsen of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

Among the remains of 60 pit houses at a Botai site, her team has uncovered more than a dozen Samoyed-size dog skeletons buried separately on the west side of structures.

Historical texts from Bronze Age and Iron Age groups in Eurasia that came after the Botai culture often tell of deceased dogs protecting their masters from evil spirits emanating from portals to the netherworld located in the west.

Other Botai finds with links to later cultures in the region include a clay death mask and evidence of sacrificed horses in human burial sites, Olsen says. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

Microscopic study of pottery fragments from the site has uncovered impressions of a wide variety of woven fabrics, reports the Carnegie Museum's Deborah Harding. Botai potters used rope- and cloth-covered tools to press designs into wet clay. Harding plans to characterize Botai weaving styles for comparison with fabric remains at later Eurasian sites. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

Researchers disagree about whether the Botai people, who hunted wild horses, also domesticated them. Cheek teeth from 12 of 42 horse skulls examined so far at Olsen's Botai site exhibit enamel wear usually produced by regularly biting down on a harness' rope bit, report Dorcas R. Brown and David W. Anthony, both of Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

"It's not clear if these horses had been tamed, but we have good evidence that they were ridden," Brown says.

car 883.car.1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire. With Uncle Sam pushing the production of ethanol for fuel, U.S. corn producers are experiencing an economic bonanza. Not only are they planting more of the grain than at any time since World War II, but the price they receive per harvested bushel has also been skyrocketing. These benefits to growers are proving a juggernaut, however, for meat producers. http://louis3j3sheehan3esquire.wordpress.com/

Indeed, many livestock operations are getting hit with a double whammy. First, they’re paying more for each ton of corn-derived feed. At least as importantly, a new study finds, the corn product that’s they're feeding to their animals can be anticipated to carry triple the normal load of fungal toxins.

Because those fungal poisons — or mycotoxins — threaten the health of animals, farmers can look for reduced livestock growth, especially in swine.

The new analysis conservatively estimates the current cost to U.S. hog producers from just one of those toxins, fumonisin, at about $9 million a year. But with wider penetration of this feed additive across species and an accounting for the effects of the other four toxins, that annual loss could easily and quickly swell into the “hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars,” according to Felicia Wu of the University of Pittsburgh and Gary P. Munkvold of Iowa State University. They authored the new study.

Fungal toxins have become ubiquitous in grains. Corn tends to harbor five major ones: fumonisin, aflatoxin, vomitoxin, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A. Animals can safely dine on corn tainted with low concentrations of these. However, with the price of corn booming, livestock producers can seldom afford to feed their animals corn. Instead, they’re turning to blends of distillery wastes – a dried mix of high-protein solids and liquids. Toxins in corn don’t end up in the ethanol, but instead concentrate in the distillery wastes, and at roughly three times the value in the starting kernels, Wu and Munkvold report.

Their new study, due to be published soon in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, bills itself as the “first review of the potential impact to animal health of mycotoxins in dried distillers’ [wastes].” http://louis3j3sheehan3esquire.wordpress.com/

This economic analysis, based on published toxicity data for livestock, would appear to portend financial adjustments in the corn and ethanol markets. First, it’s likely that greater attention will be paid to fungal-toxin concentrations in grain, Wu and Munkvold argue, with routine testing needed to verify that levels in distillers’ wastes don’t prove lethal to animals.

Corn prices might fall if some share of harvests can’t go for ethanol use owing to high starting toxin concentrations in the kernels. In addition, “Ethanol facilities may lose through not being able to sell [distillery wastes] with excessively high mycotoxin levels, and/or they may need to pay higher prices for maize that is relatively clean,” the authors point out. Finally, livestock producers, “aside from suffering economic losses due to potential animal health effects, may need to pay higher prices for both high-quality maize and high-quality [distillery wastes] for animal feed.”

If some distillery wastes end up linked to animal disease or deaths, the ethanol industry might even encounter a costly “shock event,” Wu and Munkvold suggest. Lawsuits and “media frenzy” from such an event could even lead to new regulations.

Ethanol production is relatively expensive – at least for fuel markets – and most distillers were hoping to recoup big bucks by selling their wastes, meaning they wouldn’t actually prove to be wastes at all. But ethanol producers can’t recycle those byproducts if they’re poisonous. So, here’s another pin threatening to burst the ethanol bubble.

Wu and Munkvold note that there are genetically modified strains of corn under development that appear especially resistant to fungal growth. But GM crops aren’t popular, for a host of reasons.

What I take home: There’s no easy solution to quenching our growing thirst for liquid fuels. My preference: Engineer cars to sip their fuels, not guzzle them. There have been technologies available for years that would allow Detroit – and Japan and Korea and now China – to produce vehicles that get 80 or more miles per gallon.

I'd advocate increasing the tax on liquid fuels – a strategy I admit is at odds with at least two of the presidential frontrunners. As the price of fuel increases, people will suddenly swarm to dealerships offering high-mileage models. Me among them.

Indeed, I was at Argonne National Laboratory, a year ago, touring their plug-in-hybrid-vehicle research facility. (As a Prius owner, I was anxious to see the next-generation technology.) Cars under development could easily get 200 miles per gallon, I learned. And depending on how they’re driven (ie no more than 30 miles a day between charges), it might even be possible to fill a car up at purchase and then never need to visit a gas station again – ever.

Now that’s the car for me.