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Environment
The Broccoli Cure, Energized Water Has Bigger Bond Angle, Saving the Salton Sea
by David J. Hanson
November 21, 2005
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 83, Issue 47
The broccoli cure
We all know that eating our broccoli is good for us, and now research from Johns Hopkins University tells us that treating our skin with extracts from broccoli sprouts may prevent skin cancers.
The sprouts have high levels of the cancer-preventive compound sulforaphane. Mouse studies simulating human exposure to the sun found that applying broccoli sprout extract to UV-exposed skin over a 20-week period cuts the incidence of skin cancer in the mice by half.
Researchers say that sulforaphane may increase levels of a certain enzyme that protects skin against cancer. It's also known to reduce inflammation and cut reactive oxygen intermediates that cause cell damage.
Since the results seem so good and the source is so natural, it can only be a matter of time before the miracle of broccoli sprout extract appears at a drugstore near you.
Energized water has bigger bond angle
Several alert readers have sent us copies of a series of ads currently running in Popular Science magazine. The ads, dense of type but light on clarity, tell us that the company's energized water is, just about literally, the cure for all our ills.
Without going into the extensive and exhilarating promises made for the product, the company, Crystal Clear, says it has a device that works by increasing the hydrogen-oxygen bond angle in water.
The advertisements say that many of life's ills occur because, since sometime in the past, the bond angle in water has decreased from a healthy 110 to a wimpy 104 or less. For instance, distilled water has a hydrogen-oxygen-hydrogen angle of just 101, which is supposedly biologically dead and makes it difficult to urinate.
The company's product, the Electron Water/Air Machine, can fix this problem. The machine takes ordinary water, then boils it for just a few seconds, cools it to 80 F, and then boils it again. The repeated short vaporizations and coolings seem to be what energize the water and cause the bond angles to increase to as much as 114. The product includes a device that kills bad bacteria, but not good bacteria. Amazing!
The company, naturally, claims that it has more than 100,000 users of its product, and that scientists are conducting further research into its amazing properties. Although the price is not included in the advertisements, Internet sources indicate that the device sells for only $1,700.
Energized water is a big deal, judging by the number of different methods, machines, and testimonials that can be found with even a cursory search on the Internet. P. T. Barnum would be proud.
Saving the Salton Sea
The largest lake in California is not pretty. Years of pollution have left the inland Salton Sea with cloudy waters, algal growth, fish kills, and foul smells. Now scientists have proposed a way to clean it up.
Located about 45 miles southeast of Palm Springs, the lake, first formed in 1905, is 35 miles long and up to 15 miles wide. Its surface is 70 meters below sea level. It is mostly contaminated by agricultural runoff, such as phosphorus, which is the cause of many of the environmental problems.
State and federal agencies are seeking ways to save this resource, and recently some University of California, Riverside, scientists have proposed a chemical solution. Dissolved phosphorus could be removed by adding aluminum sulfate to the lake. Aluminum sulfate would incorporate the phosphorus into its structure as amorphous aluminum hydroxide, or floc, and also combine with other suspended solids before precipitating.
Polyacrylamide would also be added. This compound promotes flocculation of solids and enhances salt removal from the lake's water. It acts as a coagulant aid by bridging reactive groups and increasing floc size.
These techniques are already used in water treatment, but the size of the Salton Sea project would be huge. About 6,000 tons of the two compounds would have to be added to the lake each year at an estimated cost of $19 million.
If the lake can contribute as much tourism as claimed-it once attracted more visitors than Yellowstone National Park—then $19 million could be a bargain.
This week's column was written by
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