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News / Science & Technology Cotton May be Eco-Friendly Way to Clean Oil Spills

May 17, 2013

Voice of America - Nearly three years after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spilled nearly 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico, oil is still being found on Gulf beaches and coastal marshes. Officials have used everything from straw, to wool, to feathers to try to soak it up. Now, scientists at Texas Tech University report that unprocessed raw cotton may provide the ideal clean-up solution for crude oil spills.

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Clean Up Oil Spills with Low-Grade Cotton

May 17, 2013

Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network - “In this region, about 10 percent of the cotton grown in West Texas is low micronaire,” said Ramkumar. “It doesn’t take a dye well, so it gets discounted. However, because low-micronaire cotton is less mature, it shrinks, and you are able to pack more fiber into a given area. The strength here is that the low-micronaire cotton absorbs the most crude oil. The oil is not only stuck to surface, the oil gets absorbed into the fiber.”

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