Document G56BELw9rz717EkkXk7gM05qv

.J3BS3BS ii..-. xie. URL 04829 Sck nee Electrodes give cne-hour m genWty test As little as 1.6 ^: per mL of mutagen is detected in only one hour b\ a microbial sensor devised by tsao Karube and cowc - kers at Tokyo Institute of Technolo gy [Anal. Cham., 53, 1024 (1981)}. They couple ace tylcellulose membranes containing immobilized 6acillus subttlia, deficient In ability to repair ONA, to oxygen electrodes and measure current produced by bacterial respiration in oxygen-saturated glucose so lutions. Added mutagens damage DNA, causing cell death, cessation of respiration, and rises in current. The sensors may lead to rapid screening of com pounds for mutagenesis and continuous monitoring of environmental mutagens. Further work in Tokyo in cludes incorporation of rat liver microsomes into the sensors to simulate metabolic activation of muta gens- Love Canal has not Increased cancer rates The incidence of cancer in the Love Canal area of Niagra Falls is not higher than that tor the entire state of New York outside of New York City, says the New York State Department of Health [ Science. 212, 1404 (1981)]. Using data from the New York Cancer Registry for the period from 1955 to 1977, the depart ment looked particularly at rates for liver cancer, lym phoma, and leukemia and found none of these consis tently elevated. Of other types of cancer investigated, only respiratory cancer was higher than normal for residents near Love Canal, but this rate appears to be high for the entire city of Niagara Falls and does not appear to be associated with the toxic wastes buried at the dump site. mania glass may be cheap photocatatyst Titanium oxide can be formed inexpensively into a monolithic titania glass that will catalyze the forma tion of hydrogen gas from water in sunlight, according to Edward A. Speers and associates at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg [Mature. 291,399 (1981)]. Al though the rate of hydrogen production is slow (about 6 micromoles per hour, and about twice that rate for glass first treated with a base such as potassium hy droxide), the glass is inexpensive to make and does not contain any precious metals, such as platinum or ruthenium, which are necessary for many other pho tocatalysts. the researchers say. Addition of cuprous ion to the glass increases hydrogen production by an order of magnitude, they find, although the reason for this enhancement is not clear. Memory okay in workers exposed to PBB's A study of the learning and memory skills of 25 chem ical manufacturing workers who worked with polybrominated biphenyls (PBB's) shows no evidence of memory dysfunction [Sc/ence, 212, 1413 (1981)]. __ Psychiatrist Gregory G. Brown ol Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and his associates previously had tested 21 Michigan farm residents exposed in 1973 to PBB's accidently mixed into animal feed. This group had complained of medical problems after their PBB ex posure and scored poorly on short-term memory tests. The chemical workers had a higher average concentration of PBB's in their adipose tissue than the farm workers but did not show a loss of memory. Thus, the researchers conclude, the memory loss of some Michigan residents exposed to PBB's may be related to their anxiety over that exposure. Education ASEE tackles engineering faculty shortages The American Society for Engineering Education hopes to have a staff executive in place by August working on the problem of the growing engineering faculty shortage in the U S. Funding is being supplied by AT&T, Du Pont, Exxon, General Electric, General Motors, GTE, IBM. and Union Carbide. The grant for the new position and accompanying activities--fund ed at about $100,000 a year--actually will be made to ASEE through the American Association of'Engineering Societies--to ensure, ASEE says, that the ef fort has the support of the entire profession. ASEE has begun active recruiting for the position, The per son wilt have four major responsibilities: to bring to gether relevant data on the problem, ensuring an ac curate and adequate data base: to develop, with in dustry, a viable plan of action to solve the faculty problem; to work with industry, government, and uni versities to implement the plan: and to coordinate the activities of other industrial and association efforts toward solving the problem. Industry's demand for en gineers has placed tremendous strains on engineer ing schools, with a conservative estimate putting the faculty shortage at 2000 nationwide. Technology GM tests coal-fueled automobiles Turbine engines fueled by powdered coal have been installed and tested in 1981 models of a Camag El Do rado and an Oldsmobile by General Motors. GM engi neers say turbine power is comparable to that of a smalt V-8 engine but weighs much less. Driver and passengers notice no difference driving gasoline- or coal-fueled cars. Compressed air from an enginedriven compressor pumps powdered coal from a tank above the right front wheel to the engine. Vibrators in the tank assure smooth flow of coal powder. A com puter in the car controls combustion. An electric spark ignites a small amount of liquid fuel to start the engine, which runs on coat after that Coal storage, pumping, and injection still need development, GM says, and particulate, smoke, and nitrogen oxide emissions need further effort to bring them to accept able levels. Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons emissions are comparable to those from a gasolinefueled car, however. June 15, 198X C&EN 13