an
THE BATTALION
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1980
Page 9
~ 'dead'!'
other
science
Zinc is snake venom’s poison
'niled Press InterniW
’ERBURY, Corai-|
wants to
sn’t seen him for tj
d he doesn't even
Scientists studying dangers
rom diesel engine exhaust
pc roster compiled
■p rVnartmpnt-lUK United Press International
rican servicemenh® BALTIMORE - In 10 years, the
n prisoners ofwari.fc vernm ^ t fi g ures ^ on f 0r ,^ 0
d still considered-? ever y j 1 ? ca r rs ° n the road w i n be
lilies were toldtl»«**V wered b y fuel-savmg diesel en-
J dead.
; challenges that
locumented pro
vas abandoned m
re than 25 years
>t three decades, hi
That means air pollution will be
gnificantly different chemically
pm what we fane today, because
esels emit 60 to 80 times more par-
tnree aecaees, k rf ulate matter ~ soot — than g aso '
,.,.ly battletofindt, l 11 ^ en ^ iaes - . i . . •
calls it the“biKl An estimated 50 laboratories
mntrv has eversenW 055 the nation are trying to deter-
M«i Ren llrffine if the diesel emissions are
mcr chief US ,M8/ardous and in particular, if they
in Sn ,,,u fan cause cancer,
or a congressiojf. Dr Terence Risby, associate pro-
thr rase pssor ot environmental chemistry at
thinkthere'sami J obns Hopkins School of
re others besid-®y^ ene and Public Health, said
10 were alive in lt>
I were left behind'
dies of diesel exhaust with support
from the Environmental Protection
Agency.
In their experiments, the diesel
soot was collected on filters and sub
jected to various chemical and biolo
gical tests. The results so far have
been contradictory.
Compounds adhering to the sur
face of the particles were extracted
with an organic solvent, analyzed
chemically, then evaluated in a
bacterial test for evidence of a capa
bility of causing genetic changes —
an indication that a substance might
be able to cause cancer.
Risby said those compounds were,
in fact, found to be positive — mean
ing they could be a serious health
hazard.
But when the raw particulate mat
ter was tested without extraction of
surface compounds, no such biolo
gical activity was seen.
“This could mean that the active
compounds, as they normally occur
on the particles, are not readily freed
to cause trouble and therefore do not
represent a serious public health
hazard,” Risby said at a recent semi
nar on environmental health.
He said the studies at Hopkins and
Penn State have shown the com
pounds produced by diesel engines
are the result of the diesel combus
tion process, not the type of fuel
used.
Diesel fuel is thought to contain
more than 500 compounds, while the
exhaust of diesels contains more than
10,000 different compounds.
Risby said the problem with diesel
emissions is that 95 percent of the
particles are small enough to be in
haled and deposited deep within the
lungs, where they remain for long
periods.
Even if the particles themselves
are not hazardous, Risby said they
can pick up other compounds in the
environment that might be.
“It’s got to be a hazard,” he said.
“Will it be a significant hazard? We
don’t know the answer to that.”
United Press International
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The
venom of a rattlesnake inflicts dam
age because it contains zinc which
causes blood vessels to rupture, re
searchers have determined.
Dr. Anthony T. Tu, professor of
biochemistry at Colorado State Uni
versity, said his team of researchers
have isolated five poisonous com
pounds in rattlesnake venom which
contain zinc.
“The major health problems from
rattlesnake bites are hemorrhaging
and destruction of muscle tissue
around the location of a bite,” Tu
said. “The poison’s ability to trigger
capillary cell damage and bleeding
was stopped when we removed zinc
from them.”
Tu said the use of antivenoms in
the United States reduced the num
ber of deaths from rattlesnake bites
from about 200 to 20 a year. He said
his research could improve treat
ments further and reduce the death
rate even more.
The professor, the author of a book
on snake venoms, said the venom of
western rattlesnakes usually does
not kill adults because the snakes are
too small to inject enough venom.
However, rattlesnakes in Texas,
Florida and other southern states are
more dangerous because they are
larger and inject more venom.
Tu said a snake’s potential to kill
depends on how poisonous its venom
is and how much venom it injects.
He said large snakes that inject
neurotoxic venoms tend to be the
most deadly.
“Some of the most deadly snakes
— cobras and kraits, for example —
inject vemon that is neurotoxic, he
said. “The venom essentially para
lyzes, stopping heartbeat and respir
ation.”
Tu said the Arizona Mojave rattes-
nake has neurotoxic venom and
therefore is more dangerous than
other western rattlers.
iumwasaskinny,i)
vho joined the
Vov. 4, 1950, he»
■tion northeast i
ea. The govemmat!
tive finding of Jet:
•mer P0W, Cedi'
attle, Wash., sail!
and Dumas wen:
t, and held intlf
a — Camp 5, nail
i Korea. Prestons::
.vear under oatlW
ias alive in that a
present debate on the need for
iesel emission standards “ranges
pm those who claim there is no
noblem to those who speak as
bough serious hazards were
poven. ”
jin fact,” he said, “we are just be-
ning to acquire the knowledge
:ded for a sound judgment.”
lisby and two colleagues at Penn
ite are conducting a variety of stu-
Heatstroke being fought
United Press International
LONDON — The next great pil
grimage to the Moslem holy city of
Mecca that coincides with the hot
months comes in 1981. Scientists say
heat prostration is likely to fell hun
dreds of the estimated 2 million wor
shippers expected there.
Anticipating the 1981 Hajj will
draw three times as many pilgrims as
in 1961 — 1 million of them fore
igners — Saudi Arabian authorities
have taken early action to deal with
the situation, including sponsoring
research on the problems and con
trol of heat stroke by two experts at
ens implants improve sight
United Press International
J'CHICAGO — The operating
said as he leftCJp™ at Chicago’s Grant Hospital
.,„1, .,,,,1 f r;i ii 5 „j®ild have been a scene from science
the oeonle bad i ti(,n movie - A green sheet covered
- that him andtkef^y ^ itb onl y an e >; eba11 exposed.
I in Camp 5wJ D , r - Andrew Lewicky was meticu
lously removing a cataract from the
official exchange J*. .
i Septemberli| n S uausual -
tided. Ilowed 1S als<
)tunas said
latement was
idence needed
J a hearing to
itus — from mi
•isoner of war, 8
denied.
9, began the sf!
shortly after fc
icr in 1950. Hebl
If to it full timed
jht eye of an elderly woman. No-
The procedure that
also becoming commen
ce. The fogged lens was replaced
a plastic implant.
[Over 100,000 intraocular lenses
re implanted in the United States
St year. They offer an alternative to
ick glasses which are far from ade-
ate and to contact lenses which
be difficult for elderly people to
indie.
jihad a devil of a time getting the
ntact off my finger,” said Edward
i , r I. 58, of Chicago, who had an
! 11 Itraocular lens implanted in his
rS a f° .i Mht eye Aug. 5, 1978, because of
my Summar) ^ inab iiity to wear a contact lens,
s said Preston**!“0n Aug. 6, I could see. The girl
itelligenceo i IU t b e bandage off and says, ‘can
latriation thatj see w b a t Tm doing,’ and I said,
dive but in pooryou’re holding up fingers.’
is the eighth wonder, ” laughs Rog.
the Army no^Jbewicky said there is a 90 percent
mistaken k t l ance tbeit a patient will have nor-
“ named vision in the eye that accepts the
also at 6amporrB raocu j ar j ens a lthough some peo-
ugust 195 ' pj[ ( , sti j] need glasses after the opera-
o used the s j n f or nearsightedness or farsight-
name under" ^ Iiess
BDr. Osvaldo Lopez says the type
ieArmynowsa!!«j m p] an (. b e uses is determined he
nce now tbal » e hand by the patient’s age and
:ver a prisoner *>styl e .
ic Dumas fami|jmi[) eS pit e their success, questions
; Roger, thU |itinue to be raised about the use of
dished that WP ns implants. Bcause the effects of
vas not Roger I implants beyond 20 years are
the confusion jknown, a report from a National
mnel records n institutes of Health panel of ophtha-
las and Don inol 0 gj s t s j as t year recommended
• destroyed in be implants generally be restricted
ie National P 1 o elderly patients.
Some eyes are better candidates
n others for an implant operation
ophthalmologists say there are
ne people that should not have
operation. These are patients
h uncontrolled glaucoma, eye in-
flamation, advanced diabetes, very
nearsighted vision and retinal de
tachments.
The cataract and implant opera
tion usually lasts about an hour and
can be done under local anesthetic.
The day after a normal operation, the
eye is only slightly red and there is
no indication the person had
surgery.
Lopez notes that no surgery is
without risk although only a very
small percentage of patients have se
rious complications from implants
such as bacterial infections and un
controlled hemorrhaging, which can
also occur after cataract extraction
without implants.
the School of Tropical Medicine.
Professor J. S. Weiner of the En
vironmental Physiology Unit and
Dr. Mustafa Khogali induced a
reasonable facsimile of the intense
heat liable to be experienced in the
crush around the tomb called the
Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, by
having volunteers in plastic clothing
exercise in a hot room until their
temperatures reached 103 degrees
Fahrenheit.
When victims have a such a high
temperature — and in heat stroke
107 F. is not uncommon — there
must be rapid cooling or the chances
of fatal stroke are as high as 80 per
cent. This drastic cooling was the
goal Weiner and Khogali have been
seeking since 1978, according to the
bulletin of the Medical Research
Council.
RESTAURANT
AND
CLUB
PRESENTS:
DENNIS IVEY
APRIL 2-5
7:30 P.M.
ALSO APPEARING — FINE LINE
APRIL 1
ANNOUNCING — NEW HAPPY HOUR
DOLLAR DAYS — MONDAY THRO FRIDAY 6-7 ALL THE
BEER, WINE & BAR DRINKS YOCI CAN DRINK —- ONLY
ONE DOLLAR! 707Compto
College Station
ARBOR SQUARE
APARTMENT
now Signing Summer St r ,
Year Leases
Summer:
1 Bdrm.
2 Bdrm.
Fall/Spring: 1 Bdrm.
plus elect
Call 693-3701
2 Bdrm.
150°° unf.
175°° furn.
210°° unf.
240°° furn.
235°° unf.
275°° furn.
305°° unf.
360°° furn.
ZACHAK1AS—|
GREENHOUSE
club fc game parlor
never a cover charere
POOL
TOURNAMENT
TONIGHT 8 P.M.
1201 Hwy. 30 in the Briarwood Apts., CoHege Station 693-9781
diamond brokers international, inc.
Presents
THE
TEXAS AGGIE
BASKETBALL BASH!
TONIGHT!
I. to Midnight
nch fries,
TnKKSTY
TUfrriL
301 University
846-1528
MAKE "THE TURTLE
YOUR PARTY KEG
HEAD QUARTERS
8 P.
at the
TEXAS HALL OF FAME
NO COVER CHARGE
Texas Aggies
1979-1980
SWC
Basketball
Champs!
SHOW YOUR
SUPPORT FOR THE
GREATEST
BASKETBALL
TEAM IN
TEXAS A&M
HISTORY!
Each keg comes with
50 pounds of ice
and 50 cups.
THIS WEEK:
OL MIL 16 gallon
COORS 16 gallon $ 34^
COME BY DIAMOND BROKERS INTERNATIONAL BEFORE
5:00 P.M. TODAY AND REGISTER FOR A
$ 500 GIFT CERTIFICATE
TO BE GIVEN AWAY TONIGHT... YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN.
diamond brokers international, inc.
209 University Drive
693-1647
3-1