On the move.A new study suggests how prions--the infectious agents that cause such disorders as chronic wasting disease--behave in soil and landfills. Previous work showed that prions can persist in Verb 1. persist in - do something repeatedly and showing no intention to stop; "We continued our research into the cause of the illness"; "The landlord persists in asking us to move" continue soil for 3 years or more, notes Joel A. Pedersen at the University of Wisconsin-Madison “University of Wisconsin” redirects here. For other uses, see University of Wisconsin (disambiguation). A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. . He and his colleagues are interested in the environmental transmission of prions to animals and the risks of disposing of infected carcasses in landfills. To study the adsorption adsorption, adhesion of the molecules of liquids, gases, and dissolved substances to the surfaces of solids, as opposed to absorption, in which the molecules actually enter the absorbing medium (see adhesion and cohesion). of prions to quartz, a common component of soils, the team combined quartz particles with a solution of prions derived from infected hamsters. The scientists then varied the mixture's acidity acidity /acid·i·ty/ (-i-te) the quality of being acid; the power to unite with positively charged ions or with basic substances. a·cid·i·ty n. The state, quality, or degree of being acid. and salinity. "Those are important parameters in an environment, and especially in a landfill," says Pedersen. As a landfill ages, there's a decrease in both the salt concentration and the acidity of the liquid, or leachate leach·ate n. A product or solution formed by leaching, especially a solution containing contaminants picked up through the leaching of soil. , that trickles through it. The researchers found that adsorption of prions to the quartz decreased as the acidity or the salinity of the solution decreased. They describe their results in the April 1 Environmental Science Technology. The results indicate that as landfills age, prions could move with the leachate and collect at the bottom. This liquid typically goes into sewage treatment Sewage treatment Unit processes used to separate, modify, remove, and destroy objectionable, hazardous, and pathogenic substances carried by wastewater in solution or suspension in order to render the water fit and safe for intended uses. plants. The team is now examining how prions stick to particles as water flows through a soil column. This more closely approximates conditions in soil and landfills. |
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