Volume VI - September, 2010

EEE in Massachusetts

Four horses and one person have tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Massachusetts in the past 60 days. The first horse to test positive for EEE was located in the town of Middleboro back on July 20th, with the second horse testing positive in the town of Warren on July 31st. The third and fourth horses tested positive in the towns of Plympton and Lancaster. A 43-year-old male patient from Plymouth County has also been hospitalized with EEE. A Rhode Island resident has also been diagnosed with EEE. An unidentified male in his 20’s from Newport County is believed to have contracted EEE while he was in southeastern Massachusetts.

Eastern equine encephalitis, commonly called the sleeping sickness or “Triple E”, has the ability to infect a wide variety of animals including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. The virus is carried by mosquitoes and is passed in its saliva. Horses will exhibit symptoms in 1-3 weeks of being bitten by an infected mosquito, while humans will experience symptoms within 3-10 day. No cure for EEE has been found, with death in 75-95% of infected horses and about 30-35% of infected humans, and can result in neurologic problems in about 50% of survivors. Symptoms in humans include high fever, muscle pain, altered mental status, headache, meningeal (the membranes which envelops the central nervous system) irritation, photophobia (discomfort or pain to the eyes due to light exposure), and seizures.

Horse owners are encouraged to vaccinate their animals, and horses showing any signs of illness should be seen by a veterinarian. Precautions we should take to protect ourselves include:

• Avoiding outside activities during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wearing long-sleeves, long pants and socks while outside can help keep the mosquitoes away from your skin.
• Apply insect repellent while outside. Always read the directions and/or consult a physician prior to using insect repellent on children.
• Drain all standing water around your home limiting the places for mosquitoes to breed.
• Keep your home mosquito free with tight-fitting, hole-free screens on your windows and doors.

For more information on EEE Click Here to read the Public Health Fact Sheet published by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Good Bye To Endosulfan

The Environmental Protection Agency has taken action to eradicate the use of the insecticide Endosulfan within the United States. Endosulfan was previously used on vegetables, fruits, cotton, in wood preservation, and Tse-tse fly control. This pesticide is one of the more toxic, and is responsible for several fatal poisoning occurrences around the world.
               
Endosulfan is classified by the US EPA as Category I: “Highly Acutely Toxic”, while the World Health Organization has classified it as Class II: “Moderately Hazardous”. It is an acute neurotoxin, a, and can also act as an endocrine disrupter. Symptoms of an acute poisoning include hyperactivity, tremors, convulsions, lack of coordination, staggering, difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, unconsciousness. Even low dose poisonings have been documented to cause death in humans. In 2007 a study in California found that pregnant women who lived near farms that were sprayed with endosulfan during the first two months of pregnancy were several times more likely to give birth to children with Autism.
               
This colorless solid is also highly controversial for its potential for bioaccumulation. It is already banned in over 62 countries, but it is still in use in other countries including Australia, India, and Brazil. This pesticide was first introduced back in 1954, and by 2000 its use had started to be banned. The EPA is currently fine tuning the details of the decision that would put a stop to the use of endosulfan.

Is It Getting Harder To Breathe In New England

This past June and July were some of the hottest months ever for New England. The heat wave also contributed to an elevated concentration of ground-level ozone. The Environmental Protection Agency has forecasted that the elevated ozone levels will significantly decreasing the air quality throughout parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine.

Temperature and humidity play a large role in the production of ozone, with very humid air producing almost twice as much ozone as very dry air does. The hot, sticky conditions also contribute to an increase in energy use, and the burning of fossil fuels for energy is a primary source for ozone. The last ingredient is an ample number of bright sunny days. The ozone is produced in a reaction the gas emissions has to sunlight. This increase of gas emissions, humidity, temperature, and sunlight produce elevated levels of ground-level ozone, which can cause serious breathing problems, especially for individuals with a history of respiratory problems.

The EPA is recommending that people take the following steps to help reduce ozone/smog:

• Decrease driving by using public transportation, car pooling, or even walking.
• Refuel your car in the evening, the gasoline vapors also react with sunlight to create ozone.
• Reduce your use of items with small gasoline powered engines such as lawn care equipment and recreational vehicles.
• Set your air conditioning thermostat a few degrees warmer.

Could This Be Your Car’s Last Oil Change

What if you never had to take your car in for another oil change? No more sitting around waiting for your car. No more paying $30 or more every 3,000 miles. The Electro-Lube oil Refiner can make this possible.

Introduced in the 1970’s, the Electro-Lube oil Refiner cleans oil for continual use. Attached to the engine, the refiner removes solid particles, neutralizes acids, and prevents the accumulation of water in the oil. This can lead to a longer engine life and possibly an increase in fuel efficiency. Autos that utilize this product have reported a 3-4% increase in fuel economy. The refiner is currently used in tugboats and merchant ships, but it can be used in commercial vehicles, cars, and delivery vans.

This product will save the average car owner some money, but the real savings are seen when this product is utilized in a fleet of vehicles. With an improvement in fuel economy and a reduction in oil consumption and disposal of used motor oil, corporate fleets will be able to take advantage of significant savings.

The Buzz About Compressed Air Energy Storage

With the push towards green energy, there is a lot talk about the need for bulk energy storage systems. The bulk energy storage systems can store large amounts of energy that is produced during off peak time, and will be discharged during peak times when either less energy is being produced or more energy is being used. The CAES’s are basically caverns that will be filled with compressed air, releasing it to turn a turbine and generating electricity.

CAES’s have faced an uphill climb in the past in terms of permitting and site selection, but that may be a problem of the past. CAES projects are popping up all over the country in states such as Ohio, California, and New York to name a few. These bulk systems have the potential to continue spreading across the country as a significant part of the US has bedded salt/salt dome geology which is most suitable for the compressed air storage systems.

Critter Corner
Lake Chub – Couesius plumbeus

The lake Chub is a minnow with an elongated round body. It is dark in color, greenish-gray to dark brown on the back fading to a silver-gray on the sides and to white on the belly. During mating season males develop patches of red around the mouth and at the bases of the pelvic and pectoral fins. The Lake Chub’s habitat is restricted to clear, cold lakes and clear, cold, fast-moving rivers. This species also seems to be exclusive to Massachusetts and prefers areas with little or no vegetation with gravel substrates.

There are few studies of the life history of this species, and those available pertain only to lake populations. The Lake Chub spawns in the spring, between June and July. The lake populations during this time often move into streams and could migrate long distances. The river populations may also migrate long distances during the breeding season. The Lake Chub does not build nests but instead has sinking eggs that are deposited on gravel or sand substrates. This species matures in its third or fourth year but do not regularly live past five years. Their diet consists of zooplankton, aquatic insects, algae, and small fish.

The threats to this species’ habitat include pollution, increased turbidity, flow alterations, erosion and sedimentation. Since they are visual feeders, an increase in turbidity can decrease their feeding efficiency. The gravel spawning substrates that are crucial to egg development are being degraded by erosion, sedimentation, and flow alterations. More studies are required to provide critical information to help in the preservation of the populations of this species within Massachusetts’ rivers.

Invasive
Water-Chestnut – Trapa natans L.

The Water-Chestnut is a native to Europe and Asia and was introduced to Massachusetts in 1897 when it was planted intentionally in Fresh Pond, Cambridge MA (and a few other ponds) by a gardener. The plant then rapidly spread into nearby rivers and ponds, and had reached western portions of the state by the 1920’s.

This species is a rooted, but floating plant that can invade both shallow and deep fresh water habitats. It forms dense, floating mats that limit boating, fishing, swimming and other activities. This plant has two types of leaves, finely divided feather-like leaves that are submerged and occur along the length of the stem, and floating triangle shaped leaves with a saw-toothed edge that form a rosette at the water’s surface. This plant also has inflated leafstalks which provide the plant with some added buoyancy for the surface leaves. The water-chestnut is spread mostly by seed, which is nut-like with four sharp barbed spines, but it can also spread if the rosettes detach from the stem and float to another area.

This species of water-chestnut should not be confused with the Chinese water-chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) which is commonly found in Western-style Chinese food. Trapa natans L is classified as a noxious weed as it is a fierce competitor in shallow waters, quickly reproducing its’ self. The thick mats limit the passage of light into the water, which is required for photosynthesis, depleting the water of oxygen. This not only kills fish and plants but also endangers other forms of aquatic life. Water chestnut can now be found in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and in the Canadian Province of Quebec, and it continues to advance into new territory within New England and into the Mid-Atlantic States.

Green tip of the month

Tired of flushing your money away? Save money on your next water bill by updating your toilet with a dual flush converter. This product can be attached to almost any toilet and will provide you with a choice of “Quick Flush”, which uses less than a gallon of water, for liquids and paper or “Full Flush”, which uses 1.6 gallons of water, for everything else.