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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from
View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:(1)
Plague/Virus:()
Climate Chaos:(7)
Resource Depletion: ()
Biology Breach:(5)
Recovery:(3)
This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
health impacts  ~ contamination  ~ global warming  ~ weather extremes  ~ deniers  ~ unintended consequences  ~ habitat loss  ~ death spiral  ~ faster than expected  ~ ecosystem interrelationships  ~ governmental corruption  



ApocaDocuments (5) for the "Biology Breach" scenario from this week
[see full week] ~ [see full Biology Breach scenario and stories]
Thu, Sep 15, 2011
from IUPUI:
Carbon Nanoparticles Break Barriers--and That May Not Be Good
A study by researchers from the schools of science and medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis examines the effects of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) on living cells. This work is among the first to study concentrations of these tiny particles that are low enough to mimic the actual exposure of an ordinary individual...The research, published in the September 2011 issue of the journal Nanotoxicology, focuses on the effect of low concentration CNP exposure on the cells that line the renal nephron, a tubular structure inside the kidney that makes urine. The investigators found the role of the CNPs in this part of the body to be significant and potentially worrisome....["]We found that these minute particles cause leakage in the cellular lining of the renal nephron," said study first author Bonnie Blazer-Yost, Ph.D. ..."Breaching this biological barrier concerns us because things that should be retained in the forming urine can leak back into the blood stream and things in the blood can leak into the urine. Normal biological substances as well as waste products are dangerous if they go where they are not supposed to be," Blazer-Yost said. ...


"Taking a leak" now has a whole new meaning.

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Wed, Sep 14, 2011
from The Denver Post:
Four oil and gas companies responsible for 350 spills named "outstanding operators" by regulators
As gas and oil drilling accelerates along Colorado's heavily-populated Front Range, state regulators named four companies to be "Outstanding Operators" and lauded them for environmental excellence. But the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulators' records show that those companies are responsible for more than 350 spills since January 2010. One of them, Andarko subsidiary Kerr-McGee, released cancer-causing benzene and other chemicals three times last month in Weld County -- contaminating land and water. The awards given by the COGCC exemplified a collaborative regulatory approach that Colorado relies on to protect its environment with a record-high 45,793 wells and companies drilling about eight more a day. A Denver Post analysis in progress has found that spills are happening at the rate of seven a week - releasing more than 2 million gallons this year of diesel, oil, drilling wastewater and chemicals. ...


If these are the "outstanding operators" I'd hate to run into the "offending operators."

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Wed, Sep 14, 2011
from Chemical & Engineering News:
Chemicals Of Concern
The White House is under pressure from two democratic senators to release a list of chemicals the Environmental Protection Agency says could endanger human health or the environment. This so-called chemicals of concern list would include eight phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A. The chemical industry has attempted to block release of EPA's proposed list over the past year. Congress granted EPA the authority to create such a list in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which was signed into law in 1976. But EPA hasn't attempted to use this authority until now. ...


If it endangers human health it endangers the environment -- and vice versa!

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Tue, Sep 13, 2011
from Georgetown University:
High Levels of Carcinogens in Dry-Cleaning, Study Shows
Georgetown researchers have found that perchloroethylene (PCE), a potentially carcinogenic dry cleaning solvent, is retained in dry-cleaned clothes made of polyester, cotton or wool. The levels increase with repeat cleanings, according to the researchers, whose work appeared Aug. 30 online in Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry.... "The question is, can the levels of PCE we find be absorbed through the skin or inhaled in quantities large enough to harm people," says Georgetown professor Paul Roepe, who supervised the study. "We don't have the complete answers to those questions, but I think we know enough to suggest that more studies should be done very quickly."... They found that polyester, cotton and wool (but not silk) are most prone to retaining high levels of PCE. "At the end of the day, nobody - I mean nobody - has previously done this simple thing - gone out there to several different drycleaners and tested different types of cloth for retained PCE," says Roepe, also co-director of Georgetown's Center for Infectious Disease. ...


That crisp, fresh look is worth it!

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Tue, Sep 13, 2011
from London Guardian:
Sheffield highlights 'clean jeans' which zap pollutants round their wearers
Jeans which clean up the air around them are being highlighted in Sheffield, as the UK's textile industry continues to show that it is far from dead. Using Lilliput-like nanotechnology, the familiar blue material breaks down pollutants from industry and road traffic with photocatalysts added to the cloth. The system, devised by Sheffield university and the London College of Fashion, follows similar 'smart' applications at Bolton University, which generate electricity through minute solar and movement cells in fabric. Its potential for reducing other more obvious odours, or even overcoming the long-standing aversion of golf clubs to denim clothing, has yet to be explored. ...


The most important thing, however, is its impact on the perceived capaciousness of my derriere.

ApocaDoc
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