The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Project Shows Native Bacteria Can Destroy Widespread Pollutant In Groundwater

Native bacteria can be used to destroy one of the most tenacious and widespread contaminants that is poisoning the nation's groundwater, Stanford researchers have shown.

The pollutant is trichloroethylene (TCE). In the 1980s, Americans used 150 million tons of TCE annually to dryclean their clothes and to degrease aircraft and automobile engines. Now it is one of the most widespread and difficult to treat groundwater contaminants in the country.

The researchers -- working at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California -- have completed the first full-scale test to determine if TCE can be removed from groundwater using a method called in situ bioremediation, which uses naturally occurring microorganisms to break down toxic chemicals.

"The test has shown that this method can successfully reduce the levels of TCE in groundwater by 96 to 98 percent," said Perry L. McCarty, the Silas H. Palmer Professor of Civil Engineering who heads the project, report in a at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco this week. Working with him on the project are: Mark Goltz, associate professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology, graduate student Jason Allan, post-doctoral student Mark Dolan and Gary Hopkins, a science and engineering associate.

In addition to performing effectively, the bioremediation process lived up fully to the researchers' predictions, indicating that they understand the basic processes involved well enough to determine how the method will work in other areas contaminated with TCE, McCarty said.

The conventional approach to groundwater decontamination is called pump-and-treat. Groundwater is pumped to the surface, where air is blown through it to strip out volatile contaminants, which are then adsorbed onto activated charcoal filters. This approach wastes water, because the treated water is seldom reinjected into the aquifer. The contaminated charcoal als
'"/>

Contact: David F.Salisbury
salisbury@stanford.edu
415-725-1944
Stanford University
18-Apr-1997


Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. Virginia Tech researchers to release findings on Smith River Project
2. Tools from the Human Genome Project reveal a versatile microbe
3. Project to make smallpox inoculations safe by leashing current vaccine virus
4. Francis Collins and Ari Patrinos receive Energy Secretarys Gold Award for Human Genome Project
5. Project BioShield: Consistent financing, markets, indemnity for biodefense vaccine developers needed
6. AAAS Science Project/Unisys prize encourages student-led scientific inquiry on flight to soar
7. UT Southwestern named one of 10 NIH centers for Human Proteome Project
8. NSF awards $4.3 million to Rutgers for Maize Genome Sequencing Project
9. Moffitt Cancer Center receives DoD funds to establish National Functional Genomics Project
10. Darwins letters being sent to Galapagos Islands as part of Darwin Correspondence Project
11. Ames chemist wins national award for contributions to Human Genome Project

Post Your Comments:
(Date:11/23/2009)...e in German . , Not just birds, but also a .... Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. ... Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behavio...lled "Vespertilionidae" with the help of mathemati...r short as well as long distances of various kinds...
(Date:11/22/2009)...cientists have inventoried an astonishing abundanc...that have never known sunlight - creatures that so... to 5,000 meters (~3 miles) below the ocean waves....ther vanguard technologies, animals known to thriv... a diverse collection of species ranging from crab...
(Date:11/22/2009)...esearch Centre, a partnership of the University of...r Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovere...in cells die following a stroke, as well as a poss...he study were recently published online in Nature...ls continue to die even after blood flow has been ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):We're off then: The evolution of bat migration 2Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 2Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 3Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 4Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 5Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 6Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 7Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 8Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss 9New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy 21 in 4 nursing home residents carry MRSA 47915 11 in 4 nursing home residents carry MRSA 47915 2New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 1New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 2New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 3New Option for Erasing Wrinkles 47913 4Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 1Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 2Keys to a Fit Pregnancy and Losing the Baby Weight 47910 3
(Date:11/20/2009)...ntly announced that Dr. Dominique Hebrault will pr...nalytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and ... (PRWEB) November 20, 2009 -...ology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and Green Engineeri...nology (PAT) case studies will be presented on how...
(Date:11/19/2009)...e/ -- Dr. Mate Hidvegi, inventor of Avemar ferment... issued on November 17 by Biropharma Kft, discredi...lf-serving statements about its U.S. competitor Am... his office in Budapest, Hungary: ,, "The Biro...y to AveULTRA, www.aveultra.com , is misleading...
(Date:11/19/2009)...., Nov. 19 Arlington Medical Resou...ading driver of antibiotic selection in nosocomial...ainst gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens. D...comial pneumonia, surveyed European physicians rev...de appropriate coverage against common pathogens, ...
(Date:11/19/2009)...nthesis Companies Form International Gene Synthesi...n Risk Reduction ,Five Member Companies Represen... , (PRWEB) November 19, 20...esis companies today announced agreement that they... biosecurity in the gene synthesis industry. By s...
Breaking Biology Technology:Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and Green Engineering 2American BioSciences Rebuts Misleading Statements Made by Hungarian Competitor 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 3World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 2World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 3World's Top Gene Synthesis Companies Establish Tough Biosecurity Screening Protocol 4
Other News:
...K. Macy at the University of Rhode Islands Graduat...pulation structure of the long-finned squid (Lolig...he seasonal trends in its age structure both insho...dy was to assess whether an increase in the winter...
... animals may be highly sensitive to environmental ...e predicted consequences of deep-sea carbon seques...2 October 2001 issue of Science, exposes the need ... injection in the ocean. ......In a survey of the ...
...- The American Phytopathological Society (APS), th...ntists, has issued a formal statement in support o...efits to humanity possible through biotechnology, ...rsight and regulation, the APS members hope to cal...
...logous thinking to match symbol arrays that were t...on-human animals may be capable of abstract though...s for the evolution of human intelligence and the ...ls. A trans-Atlantic team of psychologists has fo...
URI biological oceanographer examines the relationship between the inshore and offshore New England squid fishery 2Researchers report on possible biological effects of deep-sea CO2 sequestration 2Plant health scientists issue statement in support of biotechnology 2Baboons can think abstractly, in the first study to show that a non-human, non-ape animal shares a central aspect of human intelligence 2Baboons can think abstractly, in the first study to show that a non-human, non-ape animal shares a central aspect of human intelligence 3
...ford University and Joslin Diabetes Center are pro...te -- leading to powerful tools to help scientists...ophy. ...Skeletal muscle contains a complex array ...multi-nucleated muscle fibers and muscle satellite...
...1, 2004 In a Perspective article in the Nov. 11 i...abio Cominelli, chief of the division of gastroent...ia Health System reports that a dysregulated respo...l, non-specific response to infection- may have mo...
... University of Chicago may have found a way to man...l death, a normal process that regulates cell numb...rders, cancer and other diseases. ......In the 12...ts show that a key step in the process of preventi...
SANTA CRUZ, CA--In a study that mimicked the natural order of species loss in a grassland ecosystem, researchers found that declining biodiversity greatly reduced resistance to invasive species and th
Joslin and Stanford researchers find key clues to muscle regeneration 2Joslin and Stanford researchers find key clues to muscle regeneration 3Rethinking new therapies for Crohn's disease at U.Va. 2By impounding iron, FHC foils cell suicide, fuels inflammation 2By impounding iron, FHC foils cell suicide, fuels inflammation 3Order of species loss has important biodiversity consequences, grassland study reveals 2Order of species loss has important biodiversity consequences, grassland study reveals 3