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Science

Beer and Bacteria to be used in Toxin Cleanup 115

Posted by Hemos from the cleaning-it-up dept.
GospelHead821 writes "According to this article in Popular Science, a chemistry student at the University of Tulsa is driving research into use of toxin-munching "sulfate-reducing bacteria" (SRBs) to help cleanup toxic, solid effluent from abandoned zinc and lead mines near her home. Where does the beer come in? Apparently, it has proved an excellent food source for the bacteria and helps to extend the lifespan of the normally short-lived SRBs by several months. Currently, the procedure is in the testing phase, with models being employed to simulate the conditions that would be present in a large-scale detoxification plant, which in turn, is based on the natural wetlands from which these bacteria hail."
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Beer and Bacteria to be used in Toxin Cleanup More

Beer and Bacteria to be used in Toxin Cleanup

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  • Yeah, they're using this in the dump by my house. Nice!

  • Ok, hold up (Score:4, Funny)

    by sllort ( 442574 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:43PM (#2598113) Homepage Journal
    Are you telling me these bacteria are getting free beer?

    Goddamnit that's just not right.

  • mmmm (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kallahar ( 227430 ) <kallahar@quickwired.com> on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:44PM (#2598117) Homepage
    Sounds like the Spirit cooled computers from a few years back!

    Alcohol sure does work wonders :)

  • If I remember correctly... (Score:4, Informative)

    by gmplague ( 412185 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:45PM (#2598120) Homepage
    If I remember correctly, they did a kind of similar thing when the Exxon Valdez oil ship crashed... I think there was some bacteria that had been engineered to live off oil, and so they dropped some bacteria on the oil and that cleaned up much of it. This is from my freshman biology class, so I'm not quite sure if it's accurate.

    • Re:If I remember correctly... (Score:5, Informative)

      by caesar-auf-nihil ( 513828 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:19PM (#2598270)
      You are correct, there are certain types of bacteria that have the right enzymes to break down hydrocarbons into units the bacteria can actually use as food/cell-building chemicals.

      The only problem with them is that like almost all bacteria, they are UV sensitive, so they were most effective at night and under the oil slick. In the morning, most of the colonies would get wiped out by the sunlight.

      These bacteria are slightly different in that they seem to be breaking down not hydrocarbon (oil) waste, but heavy metal waste. What I couldn't glean from the article was what the bacteria are doing with the waste once they injest it. Yes, they've broken it down, but you have to atomistic/matter conservation here, so the toxic zinc and other heavy metals have to go somewhere. Since beer is needed to feed the bacteria, they're obviously not using the heavy metals to generate more of themselves or create some special zinc-containing enzyme. My guess is that the bacteria break down the toxic form of the zinc/heavy metals and turn it into something easier for the environment to handle. However, I have no idea here what those bacteria are doing with it. I wish the popular science article had been more verbose in scientific content.
    • And the captain was feeding on beer too.
    • If I remember correctly, they did a kind of similar thing when the Exxon Valdez oil ship crashed... I think there was some bacteria that had been engineered to live off oil, and so they dropped some bacteria on the oil and that cleaned up much of it. This is from my freshman biology class, so I'm not quite sure if it's accurate.

      You are correct. If I remember correctly, this bacteria was patented by the company that developed it. Others wanted to copy the bacteria and challenged the patent, and eventually the Supreme Court ruled that you could patent an organism under the U.S. Patent law. This led to the rush to patent every human gene that a start-up lab could get their hands on, by only speculating what possible uses the gene might have.

      Anyone remember the case more clearly?



    • It's not a "Shazam, you're clean" process. A year or two ago, they measured the level of oil in the soil, and found it to be just bout half of what it was after the spill. The bacteria work, but it's a long, slow road.

      steve
  • Somebody finally found a fitting use for Budweiser, Coors, Miller, et al!
  • I'm sure those little SRBs will go better and be less hung over if they're given some decent beer instead of some swill like Miluakee's Beast.
    • But why would you want to waste the good stuff like Bass, Samual Adams, Fat Tire, Guinness, etc? Coors, miller and bud are just...bad. Yes I only live a few miles from Golden Colorado, and a Anheiser Busche plant isn't to far away either...now I know what they're using it for!

  • Sorry, I couldn't resist. (Score:5, Funny)

    by devphil ( 51341 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:46PM (#2598126) Homepage
    with models being employed to simulate the conditions that would be present in a large-scale detoxification plant,

    And it runs on beer? You'll also have to build a second detox facility for the workers...

  • will this technology be free as in speech, or free as in beer?
  • Finally. As interesting as all the studies about caffeine are, it is refreshing to read one about my other vice. So it is only good for bacteria. At least it is good for something.

    I really like the last sentence. Serving beer to bacteria. Could have sworn it was talking about me and my friends!

  • I can see where the beer comes from... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ralmeida ( 106461 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:48PM (#2598133) Homepage
    Dr. Kolynsqwerky: What is this bottle of beer doing here?

    Student: It's... hmmm... an excellent food source for the bacteria and helps to extend the lifespan of the normally short-lived SRBs by several months, Dr.!

  • Researcher A: "How do we clean up this toxic waste..."

    Researcher B: "My group has had successful studies using this bacteria. The only problem is that it dies out too quickly."

    Researcher A: "Well, how do we keep it alive long enough to do any good..."

    Researcher Delta: "BREWSKIS!!!!!!!! WOOOOO HOOOO!"

  • Repost of another /.? (Score:5, Informative)

    by lonesome phreak ( 142354 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:51PM (#2598149) Journal

    This sounds familiar...

    old article: [slashdot.org]

    night_flyer writes: "Stale Beer may be used to clean up one of the worst superfund sites in the U.S. ... Now the question is, who leaves beer in the fridge long enough to go stale?" The site in question is a former zinc mine in Oklahoma which is full of toxic leavings, and has been on the EPA's Superfund hotlist for a few decades. A University of Tulsa professor named Tom Harris, who originally considered mollasses, is quoted as saying that "a wetlands treated with beer would be more effective in removing zinc and lead from runoff water than an untreated wetlands."

    It's the same guy, the same research, but just a different application!

    • It's the same guy, the same research, but just a different application!

      Given enough time and research money, this guy will figure out how to do everything with beer!

      • Automobiles, trucks, trains and airplanes that run on beer instead of gasoline.
      • A laptop computer that uses batteries that run on beer. No recharging--simply pour in a bottle of Negra Modelo (and throw in a lime for extra performance).
      • Power plants that run on beer.
      • Vacuum cleaners that run on beer.
      • Medicinal beer. (As opposed to medicinal marijuana.)
      • Beer in the Workplace, a business management strategy. (Patent pending.)
      • Beer replaces water in swimming pools.
      • Watering your garden with beer.
      • And many more!

      Oh well.

      • Watering your garden with beer.

        Back in college I actually used to fertilze my pot plants with stale beer. It worked pretty well. It's also a great idea in gardens which get attacked by slugs and some type of bacteria.
      • Automobiles, trucks, trains and airplanes that run on beer instead of gasoline.

        But .. beer is more expensive than gasoline.
        Gallon of gas (in OR) : about $1.70
        Pint of beer : about $3.00

        (Yeah, both prices are inflated because of government duties etc. Beer is easier & cheaper to make and less polluting)

    • Long ago, when I was in school, I left half a bottle of Ballantine's Ale open on my lab desk for two years.

      Absolutely nothing grew on or in it.

      --Blair
      "Macro Brew is Good for You."

  • Tiny little steins (Score:5, Funny)

    by isomeme ( 177414 ) <cdberry@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @05:54PM (#2598168) Journal
    You know, this gives a whole new meaning to "microbrew".
    • You do realize that beer is made by other microorganisms (yeast), so the consumption of beer by bacteria is just making things a little more equal between the producers and consumers?

      (Yeah, I'm back. Maybe.)

  • Finally, I know what to tell my friends when they ask me why I drink *so much* beer...
    "I'm just doin' it to remove the extra zinc and lead from my body, guys!"...Yeah right!
  • well this is the first time I have heard of Beer helping to clean up a toxic mess. Best I can remember from my fraternity days it seemed to be the cause of many toxic messes.

    (sorry I think that was obligatory)
  • So, with enough beer, they can get some schmoe off the streets real drunk and talk him into cleaning up toxic sludge? beer works wonders. Now, where does the bacteria fit in.....

    This is coming from the guy who was too lazy to actually read the article.
  • And you can only guess how the beer was originally introduced into the mix...

    Researcher A: Man! Another failure... what are we doing wrong?

    Researcher B: I don't know... here... let's have a beer before we take off...

    *sprrrt* of opening the can...

    Researcher B: Hey! Watch where you're spraying it!

    The rest is history.
  • . Funding. Nice. First Pot helps with glaucoma, then beer is good for the environment. What's next, qualudes to beef up your firewall?
  • it has proved an excellent food source ... and helps to extend the lifespan...

    Mmmm.... beer.

  • Rename the story! (Score:4, Funny)

    by uigrad_2000 ( 398500 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:07PM (#2598221) Homepage Journal
    Intoxicated bacteria help remove toxins!
  • Some use (and justification!) for all those homebrew experiments that somehow ended tasting like ********

  • Everglades (Score:5, Informative)

    by Talisman ( 39902 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:10PM (#2598236) Homepage
    This isn't original, save feeding the bugs with beer.

    We used Desulfovibrio desulfuricans to treat water in the Everglades with high mercury levels.

    Modified Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been used for years to clean up oil spills from the hard to get places. Like in between rocks and underneath sand.

    Microbes: they're not just for diseases anymore.

    Talisman
  • To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • What do you know, it sounds like beer may be good for me after all. Time to start drinking more!

    Ford: ...It's rather unpleasantly like being drunk.
    Arthur: Whats so unpleasant about being drunk?
    Ford: Ask a glass of water.
    --Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  • Stale Beer to Clean Up Contamination? [slashdot.org]
    Posted by timothy on Monday July 30, @12:23PM
  • I just get my hands on some of these here SRB's and bam!

    instant hangover cure!

    That has GOTTA be better than drinking raw eggs with tabasco.
  • ...was a lot cleaner than I thought! There was a lot of beer and bacteria in there.

    .

  • Don't worry (Score:4, Funny)

    by JediTrainer ( 314273 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:23PM (#2598281)
    I hear some posters expressing concern that bacteria is getting all this free beer. As far as I'm concerned - better the bacteria than me. Let me explain...

    Look at it this way - it's not all bad. I'm sure they'll be using cheap American domestic beer (yuck! yellow water!).

    At least they won't be using imported Canadian, Mexican, or (mmm!) German, etc beers. Now THAT would be tragic!
  • I sure hope they're being careful [fatbrain.com].

  • Where do the heavy metals go? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by caesar-auf-nihil ( 513828 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:30PM (#2598308)
    While this bioremediation technology looks real cool at first glance, and creates lots of beer jokes, I can see one potential flaw with it, unless I'm missing something. The flaw is that all that toxic lead and zinc have to go somewhere, even if the bacteria chew it up and remediate the soil. So where are the heavy metals going?

    My guess is that they are taken up by the bacteria and somehow locked into a protein structure, putting the metal in the bacteria cell and not in the ground. Okay fine, you've gotten the toxic metal out of the ground and into the bacteria, but now what? If the bacteria are just left in the soil, they'll eventually decay and rather than having large chunks of zinc and lead laying around, you'll have atomisically dispersed metal all over the place.

    I wish the popular science article had been more specific or verbose in how the whole thing would be engineered. My guess is that they'll have to somehow separate the soil from the bacterial colonies and burn the colony to collect the pure metal. The metal can then be recycled or stored safely. Separating the soil from the bacteria though is going to be very difficult.

    I remember a similar technology that used plants to remove mercury from contaminated water streams rather than using bacteria. The scientists took a swamp plant that naturally had an affinity for mercury ions, and selectively bred/genetically engineered the plants to have even more affinity for the toxic mercury ions. The plants roots when then dangle in the waste streams, removing the ions and moving it to the leaves (natural defense mechanism as it turns out - animals and some bugs don't want to eat mercury-toxic leaves). After awhile the plants could be "harvested" and burned, where the mercury metal could then be collected, distilled, and recycled.

    Given the sucess of the above approach (its now used by several companies that sometimes have mercury metal in their chemical waste streams) I'm surprised that a similar approach isn't used here.

    If any of you out there know how this whole process works, or where these metals are going, please let me know via this forum, I'm very interested in finding out.
    • Finally, somebody makes an intelligent post in this thread. Why has this not been modded up?
    • I wish the popular science article had been more specific or verbose in how the whole thing would be engineered. My guess is that they'll have to somehow separate the soil from the bacterial colonies and burn the colony to collect the pure metal. The metal can then be recycled or stored safely. Separating the soil from the bacteria though is going to be very difficult.

      According to the article, an artificial wetland will be constructed and the bacteria will be seeded into the layer of organic material at the bottom of the water. Runoff from the mines will be directed into the wetland and the bacteria will bind the metal. The article doesn't say, but the presumption is that the metal will remain trapped in the organic layer, and it should remain there even after the bacteria die, especially after it gets covered with new layers of sediment and organic material.

      The main goal isn't necessarily to remove the metal from the environment completely -- this is mining country; the presence of metals in the environment is why they began mining there in the first place -- but to keep it contained and out of the groundwater. The main obstacle I see is keeping mine runoff confined to the wetland and keeping the wetland itself well-supplied with beer and SRB. How long does Harris propose to keep feeding it, anyway?

      Now if only they can do something about the sinkholes, which is a very serious physical danger to the community.

      • Thanks for the info. If the metal gets trapped in the bacteria and it sinks to the bottom of the artificial wetland, then it should stay there and eventually get mineralized.

        However, if the wetland causes the finely atomized metals to get into the water table, then you have the same problem all over again, perhaps even worse than before. Big chunks of toxic metal are a lot harder to dissolve in groundwater than the fine colloidal metals that the bacteria are going to make.

        Then again - if you make an artifical wetland and put it over bedrock, you should be fine. However, if animals come to drink, they'll start to spread the surface contained heavy metal bacteria into the local food chain.
    • Doing a quick search on google, I found this article...

      http://www.newswise.com/articles/2001/7/BEER.TUL .h tml

      Apparently the metals become trapped in the soil. They can then take an earth mover and scoop it up into dump trucks, and store it "somewhere safe".
    • I do not know exactly what they do with the metals in this case, but often this type of cleanup involves bonding the metal into non-toxic compounds. These compounds can then safely stay in the environment indefinitely, without the ill effects that original metal had. I think I read about doing this with cadmium (all those rechargable ni-cad batteries, leeching cadmium from landfills into the groundwater), but I don't know if that's what's happening here.

  • That alone deserves a Nobel prize, for
    well, something..
  • Isnt penicilin(sp) some sort of bacteria (or related)? Does this mean the doctor will give me a case of beer with my medicine to extend the life of the medicine? Or would the beer make it die faster, and make it less efficient?

    • Penicillin is actually a mold.

      From WordNet (r) 1.6 : penicillin n : any of various antibiotics obtained from penicillium molds (or produced synthetically) and used in the treatment of various infections and diseases
  • I wonder if the bacteria are using chisels to split the beer atoms? Or would the resulting explosion be too great?

    Beer. The cause of ... and solution to all of lifes problems" - Homer Simpson

  • This should prove a boon to the brewing industry. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kalabajoui ( 232671 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @06:43PM (#2598366)
    Think about it, instead of having to pay to dispose of failed batches of beer or raw materials that didn't quite pass QC, the brewing companies can sell their waste and minimize or even mitigate their losses. This reminds me of how in the early days of the steel industry, the byproduct of steel production, ethylene glycol, was often dumped in local rivers. Once the usefull properties of this substance were revealed, a former waste product became a valuable commodity. Maybe one day this kind of recycling will be the norm rather than the exception. But for now, citizens of industrialized countries, and especially America, seem content to throw away wealth in the form of unrealized potential of used goods and byproducts, or outright burn it by spewing it out the exhaust of grossly inefficient SUVs. We have a long way to go towards a sustainable, green economy that delivers on the promises of modern living, but these new innovations in recycling and pollution cleanup are a step in the right direction.
  • Will it work on the bad jokes submitted as responses to this article?

    (Like this one?)
  • leetle tiny dead homiez.
  • ... An appropriate use for American beer.
  • So it seems that if you have been eating solid effluent (commonly known as "shit") all your life, then by drinking beer you can live longer... eeexcellent
  • Any homebrewer worth his salt knows that this is bogus because beer, being made from the four and only four ingredients: Water, Malt, Hops and Yeast (no freakin rice or wheat, thank you), will NOT sustain a bacterial culture. Why? Because the hops, adding bitterness, also make the Ph inhospitable to pathogens.

    BTM
    • Yeah, I've also read that hops has bactericidal qualities... the problem is, at the levels of volatile hop components found in the more mass-produced commercial beers, only the alcohol would kill anything. So Natural Light, Coors Light, or Miller anything will get the job done, as would Corona, Amstel Light, Molson, etc... whatever comes in great volume. No homebrews here.

      There *are* additives in beer that are designed to prevent bacterial growth; sodium bisulfite is a common additive, but I'm not sure if it's for that purpose.

      I think Guinness would do the best job, but personally, I'm not about to spare a drop for some nasty ol' cleanup site ;)

      • Re:I'm sceptical (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I may be mistaken, but isn't sodium bisulfite mainly used in wines? I thought it needed to be in an acidic environment before it had any anti-bacterial properties. Beer wouldn't be acidic enough. Thats what I was told, anyways...
        • I guess it's used as a fixative or stabilizer... all I know is that when I took a tour of the Leinenkugel brewery in Wisconsin (not a major operation, but a good sized one), I saw a variety of things they used, including dextrose and sodium bisulfite which was stacked up in bags near the brewing area. Pretty sure the majors use similar stuff.

          Wineries, on the other hand, generally use sulfur dioxide, of which sulfites or bisulfites may be a by-product.

    • Re:I'm sceptical (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Any homebrewer who has brewed many batches knows that bacteria CAN and WILL grow in beer. I have had a couple of batches infected by unwanted bacteria. While hops do help somewhat in keeping infections away, the main thing is to make sure the yeasties get a good head start on any bacteria. Besides, have you never had a Lambik? It gets its distinctive taste from lactic bacteria.

  • Wow (Score:1)

    by Valiss ( 463641 )
    Beer: is there anything it can't do?
  • In municipal wastewater treatment, methanol or ethanol is often used to provide food for the bacteria used to remove phosphates & nitrates. All you really need is a cheap source of carbon. (Of course, using beer gives brownie points for PR)
  • "Budweiser: it's not just for killing slugs anymore!"
  • The sound of a billion bacteria shouting WAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZAAAAAAAAP!
  • I seem to remember years ago that one way used to collect heavy metals from contaminated land was to plant potatoes. These drew them out of the land, and then the spuds were harvested and disposed of. If anybody can corroborate that I'd be grateful.

    Dunstan

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