Slashdot Mirror
Ozone As Pesticide
Makarand writes "Purdue University researchers in the search for
alternatives to insect fumigants that damage Earth's ozone layer
have found that
ozone gas can be used as a potent
pesticide without causing any environmental harm.
Farmers could use ozone generators to get rid
of insects in their grain bins by releasing ozone
in them."
"The school may file patent protections on its process.
A $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Research Initiative financed the Purdue team's latest wave of research."
I don't mean to be one of those people who freaks out at the mere mention of a patent, but something rubs me the wrong way about research at an educational institution which was funded by a government grant being patentable. Shouldn't it be public domain?
lysergically yours
Is producing more poison, esp that damage the nerve system like this, a good thing?
I don't know.
I'd rather see a decline in the monocultures that are vulnerable to insect attacks. Growing for example hemp alongside your other crops helps against pests and is a lot less harmful to the environment.
Growing a single crop is almost begging for trouble, and using pesticides is not going to the root of the problem. The insects will evolve.
Seems like grain silos and smog tend to be in different areas. I think smog comes from reacting ozone with unburned hydrocarbons.
It could be that farms are big, empty places, and the amount of ozone per cubic mile of atmosphere, coupled with the lack of high hydrocarbons per cubic mile of atmosphere, make it a non-issue. As farms tend not to be near major concentrations of pollutants, this small amount of ozone would be OK, and quite probably, less harmful to the environment than the pesticides. Plus, as an added bonus, the ozone won't leave a residue that may cumulatively be nasty for us to ingest.
Lemon curry?