Apparently we've inadvertantly helped develop a bacterium that needs our waste to live:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030703/ap_on_sc/toxic_feeder_5 "...Vinyl chloride is one of the most common and hazardous industrial chemicals. It can linger in the soil for hundreds of years and is present at about a third of the toxic Superfund sites listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites). It usually accumulates as a deteriorated form of more complex compounds found in dry cleaning fluid and metal cleansers. "Brief contact with vinyl chloride can cause dizziness, drowsiness and headaches. Long-term exposure can raise the risk of a rare form of liver cancer, according to the EPA. "Loeffler has already tested the bacterium on vinyl chloride at the contaminated site in Michigan. Its ability to eat the toxic compound — and render it harmless — was hastened in one test by adding plant fertilizer and other nutrients to the soil. In another trial, vinyl chloride was destroyed by injecting the soil with concentrated amounts of BAV1 developed in the lab.... "..."These organisms can only grow when the contaminants are present," he said. "When the material is gone, their numbers decline because they don't have any food. So really it's a perfect system." Evolution In Action Maru :) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
