Carcinogenic Compounds In Gulf

Researchers testing the waters off Louisiana in June found hugely elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, some of which are known carcinogens. The researchers from Oregon State University say that a device taking samples just off the shore of Louisiana's Grande Isle registered a 40-fold increase in PAHs between May and June.


What's worse is that the sampling device was specifically designed to measure the fraction of PAHs in the environment that could make their way through a biological membrane. "This is a measure of what would enter into an organism," said Kim Anderson, an OSU professor of environmental and molecular toxicology. "There was a huge increase of PAHs that are bio-available to the organisms -- and that means they can essentially be uptaken by organisms throughout the food chain."



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Cigarette Butts Toxic to Fish

Need another reason to quit smoking?

Cigarette butts, one of the most ubiquitous forms ofgarbage in the world, have been found to be toxic to saltwater and freshwater fish.

Even with a small amount of unburnt tobacco clinging to it, a
single cigarette butt soaked for a day is enough to turn a liter of
water a sickly yellow brown and kill 50 percent of fish swimming
in it. Without tobacco, it takes about 4 smoked filters to do the
same job.Still, humans are inadvertently carpeting the planet in cigarette butts.

According to one estimate, some 4.5 trillion filters
from spent smokes make their way into the environment every
year.When immersed in water, each one becomes a time-released
capsule of compounds like nicotine, cancer-causing benzenes, heavy metals and
other dangerous compounds.

Richard Gersberg, of San Diego State University, said that some states and municipalities have begun moving toward legislation that would ban smoking on beaches, where butts are
commonly discarded.