Leavings – The Poetry of Science

The outdated bones linger
ghost-threaded into sediment –
a seam of what gained’t fade.
Scattered remnants
as soon as certain in warmth
now loosened into drift;
by silt-winds
they cut up,
reshape,
erode –
names worn to husks.
Someplace in the dead of night
small hungers discover them,
flip them over,
press them deeper –
a sluggish unspooling,
the air thick
with what
stays.

This poem is impressed by current analysis into micro organism that may eat perpetually chemical compounds.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a gaggle of human-made chemical compounds utilized in every part from non-stick cookware to firefighting foams. Their widespread use has led to severe contamination of water, soil, and even human our bodies, as these chemical compounds don’t break down simply within the surroundings. Some PFAS, equivalent to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), are notably regarding resulting from their persistence and potential well being dangers, together with hyperlinks to most cancers and immune system results. Typical strategies for eradicating PFAS from contaminated areas are expensive and sometimes ineffective, making it essential to seek out different options that may safely break these chemical compounds down.

This analysis explored whether or not a selected kind of micro organism, Labrys portucalensis F11, might assist degrade three completely different PFAS compounds. The research discovered that this bacterium was in a position to break down PFOS and one other PFAS, 5:3 FTCA, considerably over time, producing smaller, much less fluorinated by-products. These findings counsel that micro organism may very well be used to scrub up PFAS air pollution within the surroundings, providing a possible organic resolution to an issue that has to this point confirmed troublesome to handle.