May 2 1992
From The Space Library
Scientists probing river muck have discovered bacteria that can "eat" the main chemicals threatening the ozone layer, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The bacteria that break down chlorofluorocarbons, known as CFCs, were found along the Potomac River in Virginia and in pond, marsh, and swamp sediments in Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia. The CFC-eating bacteria are harmless to humans, but can operate only in the absence of oxygen, according to Derek Lovley, a microbiologist working at the Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia. (W Post, May 2/92)
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