Human Hair to Clean Up Oil Spill?

Ever heard that the human hair could be a very effective material to clean up an oil spill? In Madison, Alabama, a hairdresser named Philip McCrory originated the hair-as-an-oil-adsorbent concept in 1989. McCrory experimented with human hair to soak up a mock oil spill in his son's plastic pool. In just a few minutes, the water was clean.

Excited with his findings, McCrory approached NASA scientists in Alabama. The researchers obliged and experimented with an oil filter made up of human hair. They confirmed the findings of McCrory. Human hair effectively reduced the concentration of oil to just 17 parts per million or two drops of oil per 55 million gallons.

The discovery was applied to the Exxon Valdez oil spill which achieved great results. Human hair sponges of about 1.4 million pounds have soaked up and estimated 11 million gallons of oil.>>Read more...

Consequences of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

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The on-going oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused so much uproar from many Americans because of the danger it poses to the beaches and wildlife inhabiting the wetlands along the gulf. The progress to prevent the oil spill from spreading appears to be slow. Despite the capping attempts of the oil spill using robots as well as forcing mud-like liquids through the leak, oil deep under the sea keeps on gushing out. Thousands of barrels of oil are lost in the sea threatening to bring oil price up.

Stopping the oil leak and cleaning off the oil spill is by far one of the most challenging jobs that many Americans are now preoccupied. Thousands of workers were employed to help clean up the mess that oil can do to the beaches, wildlife, and sea surface. The leak somehow has given unexpected jobs and added income to those involved in the clean up operations. To understand how benefits can arise from such a harmful incident, the article Positive and Negative Externalities of the Gulf Oil Spill explains how this could be possible. Crisis like this can become a window of opportunity for others.