Subject: E-Waste Could Help Prevent Bacterial Infections : Discovery News
From: Nicholas
Date: Thu, September 9, 2010
To: orderingstuff@educate-yourself.org
from article please note :: Andrew Hunt and his colleagues had to cool
and then heat PVA, dehydrate it with ethanol, and add a dash of silver
nanoparticles to enhance the material's anti-microbial properties.
SORRY can't figure how to send this -
they state silver has anti-microbial properties
First, the orderingstuff e-mail is for ordering stuff, not for sending me articles you want me to read. Use the box on the Contact page for that type of mail.
Second, this article represents an exercise in wild-eyed ignorance, coupled with a celebration of the moronic and inane. I've never read such rank lunacy in my entire life:
Since when is Polyvinyl-alcohol "...a chemical compound that is compatible with the human body"?
That's a new one on me. I was under the impression that only Nature-based compounds, Nature-produced compounds that are NORMALLY found in the human body are "compatible" with the human body. Anything else is FOREIGN to the body.
The last time I checked, polyvinyl ANYTHING, is a laboratory produced, SYNTHETIC compound that is not Nature produced and certainly not "compatible" with the body. It would represent a TOXIN to the body which the body would attempt to eliminate, except the body has a very HARD TIME trying to eliminate laboratory produced chemical compounds precisely because they are NOT "compatible" with the body.
So the body tries to protect itself the best it can by sequestering (if possible) such synthetic toxins into fats or cysts. The liver tries to break it down but the liver can't break down SYNTHETIC compounds for which Nature does not possess an enzyme cascade to break down all of its metabolites and finally excrete the end products. So these synthetic compounds or their metabolites REMAIN in the body FOREVER, in the liver, in the brain, or in a dozen other locations to act as an IMMUNITY DEPRESSANT, an IRRITANT, a potential MUTAGEN which leads to cancerous growth, and a co-factor in the PROLIFERATION of pathogenic organisms and parasites.
Silver, all by itself, in the form of a silver colloid, is SINGULARLY and thoroughly capable of knocking down germs without the foolishness of TOXIFYING it by coupling it to PVA.
What Andrew and his "team" need to spend more time on is the "Hunt" for more INTELLIGENCE.
Currently, more than two billion LCD screens are nearing the end of their lives. Chances are that you have a few yourself, but if you're like most Americans, you probably won't recycle them.
Electronic waste is a serious problem. Toxic chemicals, including lead, cadmium and mercury, pose an environmental hazard to soil, should they leach into it. And hazardous materials, such as arsenic and acid, are used by people in developing countries to extract valuable metals from circuit boards and wires, which they sell for income. It's a good thing researchers are finding new ways to use old LCD screens.
In many research labs, scientists are trying to find uses for e-waste, such as turning the materials into Olympic medals and using old components to turn algae into a biofuel.
And now researchers at the University of York's Department of Chemistry have found a way to turn electronic waste from LCD screens into an anti-microbial substance that destroys infections such as Escherichia coli , some strains of Staphylococcus aureus and other unpronounceable, yet dangerous, types of bacteria.
Polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) is a key element of LCD televisions. It's also a chemical compound that is compatible with the human body.
Andrew Hunt and his colleagues had to cool and then heat PVA, dehydrate it with ethanol, and add a dash of silver nanoparticles to enhance the material's anti-microbial properties. The final product could be used in hospital cleaning solutions to help to reduce infections. According to the York University press release, the product "could also be used in pills and dressings that are designed to deliver drugs to particular parts of the body."
Hunt and his team confess that more work needs to be done. Regulatory agencies still must guarantee that silver nanoparticles are suitable for human health applications.
But since LCD screens are the fastest growing source of electronic waste in the European Union, it's good to know that people are working on ways to diminish the potential hazards.
We will have more reporting on electronic waste when we launch a new Wide Angle on June 28. Get excited!
Photo: Colin Anderson/Getty Images
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