Science News - January 1, 2011

New Orleans
Gulf drilling disaster

The biggest oil spill in U.S. history began April 20, when
an explosion and ;re on the Deepwater Horizon offshore
drilling platform sent oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at
rates at times exceeding 65,000 barrels a day (SN Online:
9/23/10). By the time the well was capped 12 weeks later,
an estimated 5. 2 million barrels of oil had been released,
all but 800,000 of which ended up in the water. Much of the
oil drifted in diffuse subsea plumes (SN: 7/3/10, p. 5) that
may have contained twice as much natural gas as oil (SN:
10/9/10, p. 10). Although native bacteria began degrading
the oil (SN: 9/11/10, p. 5), much of the gas —especially
methane— was expected to prove more resistant to rapid
biodegradation. In late September, scientists reported that
signi;cant quantities of oil had landed in sediment or were
headed there (SN Online: 9/28/10), where the crude is
expected to resist breakdown.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY; MIKE FLIPPO/SHUTTERSTOCK; T.B. HAYES/UC BERKELEY

(SN: 12/4/10, p. 10), confusing reef-dwelling fish (SN Online: 7/6/10) and reducing iron uptake by marine microorganisms, which may stifle the growth of phytoplankton that help absorb carbon dioxide emissions (SN Online: 1/14/10).

household products can also escape into and persist in the environment (SN: 4/24/10, p. 12).

New thyroid threat Scientists link relatively high blood levels of PFOA, a common stain repellent widely used in everything from fabrics and carpeting to popcorn bags, with thyroid disease in people (SN Online: 1/22/10).

Dumbfounded Researchers link lower IQs in kids to phthalates, chemicals found in some plastics and food packaging (SN Online: 4/5/10).

Forests falter In the last
decade, carbon uptake by
the world’s vegetation has
slowed considerably, largely
because of droughts (SN
Online: 8/19/10). y /

Dioxins down the drain Researchers show that once washed down the drain, tri-closan, the germ-fighting chemical in most liquid hand soaps, can generate dioxins of unknown toxicity (SN Online: 5/18/10).

In with the new Replacements for the toxic flame retardants found in many

Diabetes link to pollution Air pollution may negatively influence blood sugar control in a large and growing number of people, new studies indicate (SN Online: 10/4/10).

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Infected tobacco Tests find hundreds of disease-causing bacteria species in major cigarette brands, suggesting a possible source of smokers’ respiratory infections (SN: 3/13/10, p. 10).