Were/are hair mats being used to clean up the Mississippi Oil Spill?

8/05/2008 | DGHoodini

[DGHoodini]

A few weeks ago, I watched a program that talked about a new technology for cleaning up oil spills. Hair, it seems has a natural affinity for oil, and a company figured out, that hair, woven into mats, can be dropped into an oil spill, and it soaks up oil 9 (like 12 fold), and any water that gets pulled in, rolls right off the mats like..water, when pulled out of the spill, but the oil...stays in the mats until they are wrung out. During the show they demonstrated it and it was impressive. The mats can be re-used about a dozen times, and they have been used on at least one oil spill in California, to great effect.

I was wondering if there was anyone in the oil field, Mississippi, or otherwise in the know, who knows whether or not they are being used on the spill on the Mississppi river?

I am tempted to send the question to FNC's BYA, but I figure I'd probably miss it if they answered, as I don't usually watch FNC when they do the BYA segments.

Anyone know?

[neb52]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9mntfkBbTY

[DGHoodini]

Here’s a related article:

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/3007/

[neb52]

It appears everybody is doing the story off the AP wire. This is all that it states.

containment booms, vacuum skimmers and other equipment (whatever other is).

[neb52]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/12/981218075434.htm

[BlueMondaySkipper]

Here is the inventor:

[waterhill]

I build fuel systems for industry. We use a “mat” made by 3M that soaks up hydrocarbons ( diesel, gasoline ) yet won’t soak up water. We call them diapers, among other names.... They are meant for small spills mostly. Microbial bacteria handle the BIG spills. My .02.